Deception
by stephfarrow94
Summary: Mukuro knew his best friend would sleep with almost anything that moved, but what he didn't know was that Belphegor was already planning on bedding his new, seven-year-old charge at the first chance he got. Sometimes he gave Bel more credit than he was worth. AU, yaoi, shota B26 TYL!BelxTYE!Fran
1. Chapter 1

Mukuro Rokudo had always had a soft spot for children, and when he had finally adopted one for himself, he had been over the moon about it. He was a twenty-five-year-old, tall, blue-haired man who had been living by himself for some time now, and despite his love for children which he wouldn't show openly, he was quite the antisocial person. He had gotten through his school years with just the one friend, a blond older than him by just one year named Belphegor who had been through a pretty cruel childhood – how the two had become best friends was something neither of them could remember as they hadn't gotten along at all when they had first met.

But now, seven years after school had finished, the two were still as close as ever – it was only natural that Belphegor was the first person Mukuro took his new, seven-year-old charge to meet.

"Is this your home?" The teal-haired boy by Mukuro's side looked up at the man with curious eyes just as green. He wore a white, sleeveless top and khaki shorts, and his hair spiked up slightly at the back, quite similar to Mukuro's.

"No, Fran." Mukuro smiled genuinely as he reached down to pat the boy's head. "This is my friend's home. We're going to go out for lunch together today."

The boy – Fran – nodded. He took note of his surroundings; the lawn was green and neatly cut, the white picket fence was in good shape, and the veranda attached to the front of the brown house was bare. He wondered what the condition of the house inside would be like, and he could only hope it would be better than the orphanage he had been taken to after his grandmother had passed away.

"What's your friend's name?" Fran questioned, moving closer to his new guardian. "Are they nice?"

"Kufufu~" Amusement shone in heterochromatic eyes as Mukuro looked fondly over the boy. "'Nice' is in the eye of the beholder, little one. His name is Belphegor, and he is whatever you perceive him to be."

Fran understood what the man was talking about; he was much smarter than he would let on. "What are we having for lunch?"

"Oya oya, you're full of questions, aren't you?" Mukuro didn't mind; he quite adored Fran already.

"It's better than me being full of shit."

The blue-haired man couldn't help but laugh loudly at this. He nodded in agreement as they stopped at the front door, reaching up to ring the doorbell. "That is a valid point, little one."

There was shuffling inside the house before footsteps came to the door. Fran tilted his head, not sure what to expect as the door was opened – to be honest, what he _did _see was just a bed-headed blond still in pyjamas who looked as if they could use a haircut.

"You look like tooth decay fungi." Fran displayed no emotion as he looked up into the face hidden behind long bangs of blond hair.

"What the fuck?" Bel frowned down at the boy, turning to glare at Mukuro. "Why'd you pick _this _one out of them all?"

"My reasoning is no one's business but my own," Mukuro replied calmly as he pushed past his friend. "I called you four hours ago when you told me you were almost ready."

"Ushishishi~" Bel ignored the little boy standing behind them, waving a hand carelessly in the air. "I got distracted."

Mukuro glanced into the living room, the entrance just a few feet to his left. He could see the TV resting against the wall in the corner, and he frowned as he noticed what had been paused on it – it was common to walk into Bel's home and find that he couldn't even be bothered turning porn off when he had guests – it was even more common to find that the man no decency and wasn't ashamed to continue pleasuring himself with other people in the room.

"Turn that off while he's here, Bel." Mukuro nodded his head towards the widescreen TV, reaching out to keep Fran by his side. "I don't want him seeing anything like that."

Bel shrugged as he stepped into the living room, doing as requested. When he came back, he said, "He's going to learn about it one day."

"Yes, but not _this _day." The younger male took Fran's hand in his as he led the boy into the living room. He sat Fran down on the couch that _didn't _have fresh, sticky white stains on the fabric, smiling. "Would you like a drink or anything to eat?"

Fran nodded. "Please."

"Alright. I'll find you something small to fill your tummy before lunch. Stay on _this _couch, okay? The other one... needs cleaning."

"Okay." Fran didn't seem to show much emotion. It was clear that he was happy and excited about being with Mukuro, but the man was worried that his charge didn't know _how _to express his feelings properly – as someone who naturally hid what he felt behind a playful smile, Mukuro knew he wouldn't be able to help the boy.

While Bel had disappeared into his bedroom to get dressed, Mukuro searched the cupboards for something suitable for Fran to eat. He eventually settled for an energy bar, knowing it wouldn't ruin the younger's appetite; it wouldn't do to take him out for lunch when he wasn't hungry after all.

When Mukuro returned and gave the boy the snack, Fran looked up at him with wide, curious teal eyes. "Your friend is making weird noises."

Mukuro tensed as he, too, recognised the noises wafting from Bel's bedroom, ones that the blond only made when he was in the middle of a solo session.

Patting Fran's head, Mukuro tried to distract the boy. "What do you like for lunch, little one?"

Fran just blinked, as if he couldn't _not _focus on the... rather interesting noises he could hear.

_**~~XX~~**_

Bel wasn't very happy to know that with Fran around, Mukuro was forcing him to keep certain comments to himself. The younger male knew he was a naturally perverted person and that it wasn't easy for him to talk about things of a more _suitable _nature, but Mukuro was his best friend – his _only _friend – and he didn't want to lose him to a _brat_.

"Are you enjoying that, little one?" Mukuro and Fran sat on the same side of the table, leaving Bel to sit across from them, at the restaurant the two men often frequented together.

Fran nodded, looking up from the plate of spaghetti that Mukuro had ordered for him. He reached out for his glass of coke, taking a sip before he placed it back on the coaster.

"You know, you could just ditch the frog and we can go to a strip club or something." Bel had one arm resting on the table, his head in the crook his elbow and lower arm made. He was looking at Mukuro as he waited for his own order to be brought out to him, boredom quickly taking over him.

Mukuro just shot his friend an angry glare when Fran asked what a strip club was. Bel wasn't surprised when his groin twitched with interest at the idea of stripping the teal-haired boy; he had long-since come to terms with the fact that he was attracted to little kids just as much as he was adults – the only problem was that he knew how his friend would react if Mukuro knew that little piece of information about him, so he kept it to himself.

"It's a place where people go to strip the blankets off beds and make them again." Mukuro smiled, his heterochromatic eyes shining with gentleness. "Sounds quite boring, doesn't it?"

Fran nodded. "But then your fairy friend seems like quite a boring person, so I guess it makes sense that he likes making beds all the time." He ignored the way Bel's jaw dropped, continuing on with his verbal assault. "Did you _see _the state of his house? It was a mess! I think he should clean his own home first before he goes out and makes any beds for anyone else."

Mukuro could only laugh, knowing that Fran was on the right track, even if the blond _wasn't _out making beds for other people – if anything, he was the one worming his way into others' beds and making a mess of them, but Fran didn't know that.

"He cleans up his messes every couple of weeks," Mukuro soothed. "Either that, or I come and do it for him."

"Little shit..." Bel muttered under his breath, only to receive a kick in the shin from Mukuro and a warning glance.

Bel could see how protective Mukuro was of Fran already, and it made him wonder; what would the younger do if he knew that Bel was already stripping Fran in his mind and doing indecent things to his body that made him scream?

Probably nothing good. No, scratch that – _definitely _nothing good.


	2. Chapter 2

"Master, your pet is weird."

Mukuro laughed as he regarded the snowy white owl perched on the back of his couch. "His name is Mukurowl."

Teal eyes blinked before they focused on heterochromatic ones. "Master, you should name your pets better."

"Kufufu~" Mukuro strode towards the animal, reaching out to place his hands on a feathered head; while most owls would bite at anyone for touching them, Mukurowl was very placid towards his owner. "I wasn't the one to name him. He was a gift to me from a previous boyfriend."

Fran tilted his head. "What's a boyfriend?"

"It's when two males love each other as more than a friend." Mukuro understood that Fran was young, and it was no surprise he hadn't heard of a boyfriend before.

A sparkle of excitement twinkled in Fran's eyes. He approached Mukuro, lifting his arms into the air, a silent request to be picked up. He squealed happily as his wishes were fulfilled, resting against his new guardian's side as he wrapped tiny arms around the man's neck.

"Where is your boyfriend?" Fran questioned.

A sad smile crossed the blue-haired man's face at this question. "...We... don't talk anymore..."

"Why not?"

"Well... He found someone else he loved more than me." Mukuro shrugged, fighting back the pain the memories stirred. "I realised that he had... been seeing that other person behind my back, so... So I let him be with them."

Fran could sense the sadness Mukuro was feeling. He moved closer, resting his head beneath the man's chin. "I'm sorry, Master. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Hmm? It's not your fault, little one." Mukuro donned his playful smile once again, knowing a _seven_-year-old didn't have to know about his love problems.

"What was his name?"

"Kyouya. I think that's enough talking about him now, little one." Mukuro tightened his grip on the boy so Fran didn't fall, walking away from the owl and down into the corridor to their right. "I'll show you to your room."

"Your house is much cleaner than Bel-senpai's." Fran liked that there was nothing out of place in Mukuro's home, unlike Bel's that had had filthy clothing and dishes scattered all over the place.

"Kufufu~ I have respect for myself." Mukuro glanced down at the boy as he felt a tiny hand fist his shirt. "Do you like Belphegor?"

Fran nodded, the corners of his lips upturning in what appeared to be a strained smile, as if Fran wasn't entirely capable of forming one without effort. "He bought me chocolate."

Mukuro knew that was an odd thing for the blond to do – Bel really was a selfish person by nature, and it was rare Mukuro _himself _received things from his own best friend so why would a _kid _he just_ met _get more attention...? Oh well, it was probably just the blond being unpredictable again. "That was nice of him, wasn't it?"

Fran nodded. He put his feet on the ground as Mukuro let go of him, stepping into the room he had been invited into. It was a bedroom, a single bed pushed against the wall in the middle of the room. A desk rested on one wall opposite it while a bookshelf filled with toys took the other wall. There was a closet a few feet away from the desk, and a small box of toys sat on the bed.

"How about you make yourself at home?" Mukuro offered. "I have a bit of work I need to do. If you need anything, I'll be in the room at the end of the hall."

"Okay." Fran ventured further into the room, wanting to suss out his new belongings; he hadn't been able to take anything from his grandmother's home as he had immediately been taken away and everything in the house had been either sold or thrown away. It was a painful memory for Fran, so he tried not to think about it and immerse himself in the toys.

Mukuro watched for a few more seconds before he turned and left the room, intending on doing a bit more course work for his university classes. He worked part-time at a store that specialised in a magic theme, but when he wasn't working, he tended to drown himself in homework, desperately needing to get a degree and find a better-paying job, especially with Fran here now.

The study room was dark, the drape having been pulled over the window, blocking out the sun. Mukuro lifted it, letting the light filter it. It illuminated the countless textbooks and loose sheets of paper with his handwriting that lay scattered against the desk tucked away in the corner.

Before he started, Mukuro made sure to pull out his stash of chocolate from the top drawer; he couldn't work without chocolate.

About an hour had passed by since Mukuro started working, and so far everything was quiet in the house. He was revising his notes on the roles many organs played in the human body, stopping only as his phone vibrated in his pocket.

With a sigh, Mukuro clicked open the message from his friend, frowning at the appalling lack of grammar that showed just how lazy Belphegor was.

'_It would be nice if you could at least write "you" instead of "U", Belphegor,' _Mukuro replied. _'You're a university student – how do your teachers let you get away with your atrocious habit of butchering the language?'_

'_Fuck up :(' _Belphegor replied within seconds before his next text came through. _'Want to go out drinking tonight?'_

'_I am a legal guardian now, Belphegor'. _Mukuro was calm as he explained things to his friend, knowing the older male was probably feeling a tad threatened by Fran's presence – Mukuro was all Bel had, after all. _'I cannot waste my nights away getting drunk anymore. If you want to hang out, by all means, come over, but I am refraining from any senseless acts such as going out and getting drunk from now on.' _

'_Can't U just leave him for a few hours? Put some food out for him and he'll live.'_

'_Belphegor, he's not a pet, nor will I leave him by himself for even a few minutes. What if someone breaks in while he's home alone?'_

Bel took a few minutes to reply. Mukuro knew he was probably frustrated about sharing his best friend now.

'_Well, can I bring a few drinks to urs tonite?' _the blond asked.

'_You may, but I will not be drinking with you, Belphegor. Apologies.'_

'_Asshole. I'm still going to get drunk at urs.' _

'_We'll talk later.' _Mukuro threw his phone onto the desk as he sighed, turning his attention back to his revision. It was peaceful once again, and just as Mukuro melted into a world of biology, he was startled back to reality by Fran letting out a frightened scream from somewhere in the house.

"Fran?!" Mukuro jumped from the desk chair and ran into the living room, finding the boy cowering on the ground while his owl attacked him. "Mukurowl!"

The snowy owl flapped his wings, making disgruntled noises, before he flew away back to his perch, watching with wide eyes as Mukuro helped Fran to his feet.

"What happened?" Mukuro used his thumb to wipe away a bit of blood that dribbled from a cut on Fran's cheek.

Fran looked teary as he whimpered, pressing closer to his guardian. "...I just... wanted to play..."

"Little one, he's not a pet that you can just play with," Mukuro explained, using his sleeve to wipe at a few more deep scratches on the boy's face – Mukurowl had certainly done a number on the boy. "What did you do to him?"

"...I chased him, and... and pulled on his tail..." Fran hid his face in the man's chest, afraid that he would be in trouble now – he hadn't _thought _he was doing anything wrong; he had just wanted to play with the bird.

"Owls aren't like a cat or a dog," the blue-haired male explained gently. "You can't just chase one – and you especially don't pull on the tail of _any _animal because it hurts them. If you leave Mukurowl alone, he'll leave you alone, alright? He just isn't used to little kids."

"I'm sorry, Master..." Fran whispered, gripping tightly at the white shirt his guardian wore.

"It's not your fault – owls can be _very _dangerous, so maybe it's best you leave him be until I teach you how to be careful around him."

Fran nodded. His body was stinging, the bird having both pecked and clawed at him. He could feel a bit of blood seeping down his back, but it seemed Mukuro knew that he was injured elsewhere besides just his face; the man picked him up and carried him out of the living room, explaining that he would clean up the wounds for him.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Belphegor, did you drive here? _Drunk?_" Mukuro frowned as he stepped away from the front door, letting his friend step into the house.

"Ushishishi~" Bel nodded, giggling as took another swig of alcohol.

"Keys." The younger man held out his hand expectantly, slipping aforementioned keys into his pocket as they were handed to him. "How much have you drank?"

"Well..." Bel laughed again as he swayed on the spot, "...kinda lost count... after the tenth bottle."

Mukuro rolled his eyes. "Go sit down before you hurt yourself."

Bel moved into living room, finding Fran seated on the couch already. He took a seat by the boy, making sure to sit close enough to feel the younger's body heat. He smirked as he reached out, the tips of his fingers dancing curiously over the bandaids on Fran's cheeks.

"What'cha do?" Bel slurred, his mind running amok in his drunken state.

"The owl attacked me..." Fran wasn't entirely comfortable being around Belphegor in this state – it didn't feel natural to him, not like the nice blond he had met earlier that day. "...Master is calling me..."

"Ushishishi~" Bel ran his fingers against the boy's chest, ready to pin him to the couch and fuck him senseless here and now – the only thing that stopped him was that he wasn't coordinated well enough to catch the smaller male as Fran fled. He just smirked to himself; the chase had always been his favourite part.

In the kitchen, Mukuro was thawing frozen mice to feed his owl. He had asked for Fran to stay out in the living room while he did so, not sure if the boy could handle watching his guardian pull apart dead animals to get rid of what Mukurowl didn't eat.

"Master..." Fran curled around Mukuro's leg, feeling safe once again. "Master, Bel is acting weird..."

"He's drunk, little one." Mukuro would have patted his charge's head, but his hands were dirty. "Stay with me for tonight. You can sleep in my room with me."

"Okay." Fran hid his face in the back of Mukuro's thigh, hearing Bel laughing loudly and talking to himself about something on the TV. The blond was quiet for a few seconds before Mukurowl started screeching angrily again and Bel swore at the animal.

"Belphegor, leave him alone!" Mukuro scolded, knowing that his friend would come off worse if the older male dared go against his bird.

"Stupid thing... just flew at me...!" Bel replied. "Lucky it's tethered...!"

"Oh, yeah." Mukuro looked down at Fran, smirking as he did so. "Mukurowl doesn't like Belphegor at all."

Fran giggled softly at these words. He followed Mukuro back out into the living room once the man had finished what he was doing, only to quickly be shuffled backwards as the blue-haired male blocked his view of the living room. He tilted his head as he heard the same sounds from the man's house, looking up at Mukuro.

"Master?" Fran tilted his head. "Master, what's he doing?"

"Put it away, Belphegor," Mukuro said sternly, regarding his friend with a cold expression. "Show some decency with a kid around."

"He'll do it himself soon enough... Shishi~" Fran couldn't see what Bel was doing, but he heard the sounds of a zipper being moved before Mukuro let him back into the living room.

Mukuro sighed as he threw a dead mouse to his bird, holding a few more for the owl. He ignored Bel's words, turning instead to Fran. "Go and get ready for bed, little one; we'll go to sleep just as soon as Belphegor passes out."

Fran didn't question his guardian; he left for his bedroom to change into pyjamas, stopping only at the doorway as Bel called to him. "Oi, frog! While I think of it... call me Bel-senpai. 'Kay?"

"'Senpai'?" Fran tilted his head, not sure what that word meant, only to be ushered along as Mukuro came to join him, the blond having fallen asleep already.

"It's a Japanese honorific," Mukuro pointed out. "Now that he's out to it, let's get some sleep, alright?"

Fran nodded, just glad that Bel had fallen asleep before he hurt himself – it hadn't seemed natural at all the way he had acted, and he didn't understand what could have made Bel behave like that.

Perhaps Bel was sick? Yes, Fran decided, Belphegor must just be sick tonight.

What the boy didn't know was that while he had used the synonym to describe Bel being unwell physically, it was much more apt to have used it in a sense of mentality – because Bel was very, _very _sick in the head.


	3. Chapter 3

When Mukuro awoke the next morning, he was far too comfortable where he was to bother opening his eyes; he was surrounded by warmth, and it was soothing.

The weight that rested against the man's front was easily identified as Fran, the teal-haired boy curled up with his head resting beneath Mukuro's chin. Tiny hands gripped the man's pyjama shirt tightly, steady breathing showing how relaxed the boy was.

However, once Mukuro's mind started to form coherent thoughts, he quickly recalled that his boyfriend was long gone, and there was no one else that should be wrapped around him from the behind.

Turning to look over his shoulder, the blue-haired male's tense body relaxed as he caught sight of familiar shaggy blond locks.

"What are you doing, Belphegor?" Mukuro wasn't uncomfortable enough with the proximity to pull away, instead just pulling Fran closer to him.

Bel moaned as he moved his head, having buried his face into the small of his friend's back. He shook his head, whispering, "Head hurts..."

"You should not have drank so much, Belphegor," the younger male scolded. "Go drink some water and take some painkillers."

"Can you do it for me...?" Bel sounded pitiful, but he didn't care; his head was throbbing like a bitch.

"You want me to drink water and swallow painkillers for you?" Mukuro's playful smile widened at his own words. "I don't think that would help you very much."

"Fuck you..." Bel muttered. "You know what I mean..."

"Kufufu~" Mukuro shook his head, pulling away from his friend. "I'm afraid you'll have to do it yourself; it's not _my _fault you're hung-over."

"Asshole..." Bel climbed off the bed and left the room, grimacing as he held his head.

Fran started stirring at the blond's voice, a frown crossing his face as he moved closer to Mukuro. "Mommy..."

It broke Mukuro's heart to hear the boy call out for his mother – he could _never _be jealous of the boy wanting his natural parents; it was simply devastating to know that Fran was probably lonely and missing the family he could never get back.

"Shh..." Mukuro rubbed Fran's back, trying to calm him down. "It's okay, little one. It's okay."

Fran cracked an eye open, looking up at the man's face. He slid closer so that he rested against the other tightly, letting both his eyes fall open. He didn't say anything further about his parents, he merely just laid there quietly.

"Belphegor and I need to run into town today," Mukuro said softly, distracting his charge from the younger's thoughts. "After that, we'll go to your school and change your details around so that I'm listed as your guardian. Do you want to go back to school tomorrow or next week?"

Fran hummed before he replied. "Next week, Master."

"Alright. Go and get dressed, okay? We'll have breakfast once you're ready."

Fran nodded. "Okay, Master." The boy untangled himself from Mukuro and climbed off the bed, heading back to his own room. He passed Bel on the way, and he felt much better around him now that the blond wasn't acting the way he had the previous night.

"Oi, frog."

Fran stopped and turned around, facing the blond. "Yes, senpai?"

"Where are you going?" Bel's head was pounding, and he was willing to do whatever it took to get rid of it.

"Getting dressed." Fran assumed the conversation was over and started returning to his own room.

Bel licked his lips, his groin twitching in interest. He waited for the boy to have walked back into his room before he followed, stopping by the now-closed door. As carefully as he could, he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door open just enough for him to see in.

_Shit... _Bel swallowed heavily as he found Fran standing in the room by the closet, the green pyjama shirt the younger had worn to bed the first thing to come off. The blond let his hand slide into his pants, grasping himself as he watched with eager eyes. _Oh, fuck... It's been so long since I've seen a kid like this... _

Obscured eyes drank in the sight greedily as ears listened carefully for any hint that Mukuro was leaving the bedroom. Bel squeezed himself tight as he pumped his engorged member, his hangover all but forgotten.

Fran's body was small – very small. He was a very scrawny boy, his limbs as thin as a stick. He was slightly underweight, but nothing serious, and Bel couldn't help but want to ravage that frail body and make the boy scream his name.

Fran removed his pyjama pants next, and much to Bel's enjoyment, the younger wasn't wearing anything beneath them. The teal-haired male's member was small and flaccid, but Bel felt a wave of desire crash over him at the thought that he could be the first person to touch that shaft and see just how proud it could stand.

The blond bit back a moan as he pleasured himself, not wanting his presence to be known – he wouldn't normally give a fuck if anyone knew he was watching them or not, but if Fran went to Mukuro about it, the younger male was going to _flip_.

Fran was oblivious as he slipped a white, sleeveless shirt and khaki shorts onto his body, completely unaware that he was being used to fulfil someone's fantasies.

Bel could feel his self-control slipping second-by-second until he was tempted to walk into the room and fuck the boy senseless – the only thing that stopped him was hearing footsteps coming from Mukuro's bedroom.

Jumping away from the boy's bedroom, Bel ran to intercept Mukuro before he got too far, playing his arousal off smoothly.

"M-mukuro..." Bel forced out a moan as he pinned the taller man to the wall, grinding their hips together. He pulled on a frown, acting as if he hadn't seconds before been perving on a child and was instead plagued by an incurable hangover. "Mukuro, I-I need an orgasm...! My head hurts so fucking much...!"

Mukuro wasn't surprised his friend had come to him; when they were younger, they had held a sort of friends-with-benefits relationship – contrary to popular belief, it wasn't Mukuro's previous boyfriend who had received his virginity, but in fact Belphegor.

"Belphegor, I do not want to have sex with you." Mukuro was calm as he pushed his friend away. "I'm not in the mood."

"At least suck me off!" Bel pleaded. "Fuck, _anything_ will work!"

"Then you wouldn't mind using your hand?"

Bel just scowled as his friend started walking away – while he had in fact been covering his actions, he _did _want some sort of sexual gratification from his friend. "I'm going to come all over your fucking room, Mukuro."

"It's not the first time I've cleaned you up." Mukuro shrugged, never bothering to look back at the blond; he just headed straight for the kitchen, intent on cooking breakfast for everyone.

Bel just glared after the younger before he moved into Mukuro's bedroom, making sure to be as loud as he possibly could and make as big a mess as possible on the man's bed.

_**~~XX~~**_

If there was one thing Mukuro had noticed during his trip into town with Bel and Fran, it was that the blond watched the boy a lot. Mukuro knew his friend well enough to know that, though Bel _was _a whore, he wouldn't do anything to a child – he simply put this unexpected occurrence down to the smaller man's curious nature.

The three had stopped at the mall, Mukuro requiring the pharmacy so he could refill his prescription medication. While they waited for the medicine to be made, they looked around at some of the neighbouring stores, Mukuro having not wanted Fran to become bored.

"This is pretty fucking boring." Belphegor was still suffering the side effects of his hangover, and he was in a grumpier mood than usual. He kicked absentmindedly at one of the shelves they stood next to, knocking over merchandise.

"You _can _go home if you wish, Belphegor." Mukuro knelt down, fixing what his childish friend had knocked.

"Yeah, but then I'm just going to get bored there, as well." Bel shrugged. "At least here I can piss people off."

Mukuro just rolled his eyes, having wondered where Fran had wandered off to. "Fran?"

"Over here, Master..." Something in Fran's tone sounded sad, and it concerned Mukuro.

The two older males moved to the next aisle, finding Fran standing by a bin-set of stuffed teddies, hugging a dark green frog with a frown on his face.

Mukuro leant down by the boy's side, his expression soft, as Bel just observed lazily. "What's the matter, little one?"

"...My grandma got me this teddy for my birthday when I was little..." Tears welled up in teal eyes at the memory. "It was my favourite one, but... I never got to take it with me after... after grandma died... They didn't let me take anything..."

"Oh, little one..." Mukuro reached out, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders. "I'm really sorry..."

"Can I have it, please?" Fran reached up, wiping at his wet eyes.

Mukuro frowned as he glanced at the ticket, finding that the cost of just one would amount to the same price his medication would – and all he had on him for the rest of the week until he got paid was the thirty dollars he needed for the medicine.

Looking up at Bel, Mukuro found the older male was going to be no help. He didn't want to say no to the boy, but his medicine was important – but then again, _Fran _was important, too.

Nodding, Mukuro offered a smile. "Alright. Let's go pay for it, okay?"

A small smile graced Fran's lips as he nodded, hugging the frog teddy close to him. "Thank you very much, Master."

"It's no problem." Mukuro glanced behind him at Bel, noticing the other was wearing an unreadable expression. He knew his friend was probably confused about the strong emotions Fran held towards his family – Bel himself had been abused by his family, eventually fostered by a same-sex couple after witnessing the murder of his parents and older twin brother; Bel had resented his family for the things they had put him through, and it had become hard for him to grasp the idea that not all families were like that.

Mukuro had always wondered that if Bel had at least not witnessed such horrific deaths, would he have turned out the way he had? Or would the abuse he suffered have made things even worse for him if it continued?

"Are you okay, Belphegor?" Mukuro regarded his friend with soft eyes, knowing not to push for answers when he merely received a shrug in reply.

_**~~XX~~**_

"I'd like to list myself as Fran's legal guardian, thank you." Mukuro was standing at the reception counter, talking to the woman while Fran played in the corridor behind him. Bel was lazing about on the couch, obscured eyes following the boy's every move.

"I'll give you a checklist of the paperwork you'll need, and you may double-check to make sure you have it all." The blond woman smiled as she handed over a sheet, giving Mukuro time to read it and confirm he had everything he needed.

Mukuro nodded as he gave a vanilla folder to the woman, everything he needed already with him. While the receptionist read over it all, she spoke softly.

"It's sad that he lost all of his family in such a short time." A frown crossed the woman's face. "He was such a happy kid. When his parents passed, he was never the same – he started to withdraw, and it was as if he just couldn't smile anymore."

"I've noticed that." Mukuro turned to glance at the boy, noticing that Bel had moved across the couch in order to listen in to the conversation better. "He seems to miss them very much."

Before the other could reply, a loud thud caught everyone's attention. Turning around, Mukuro found the boy sprawled out on the ground, his frog teddy a few feet away from where he had fallen.

Mukuro was quick to pick the teddy up and return it to its owner as he helped Fran into his arms. The boy sniffled as he wrapped his arms around Mukuro's neck, but he didn't cry.

"Apologies." Mukuro turned back to the receptionist with Fran in his arms, shifting the boy ever so slightly so that he could sign off paperwork as they went.

Bel couldn't help but frown, unable to understand why _anyone _would miss their family – not a second had passed when _he _had missed _his_.

_What I _do _know is that _someone _had better do something about this fucking hard-on before I take care of it myself right here... _ Bel scowled as he looked up at Fran, imagining a tight little mouth snuggled firmly around his shaft – only to have to quickly disguise an audible moan as a cough.

Though he couldn't be sure, Bel felt as if Mukuro knew he was horny.


	4. Chapter 4

When school finished for the day and Fran found that Belphegor was the one waiting by his classroom for him instead of Mukuro, the boy couldn't help but fear that he had lost his new guardian, just like how he had lost his family – he hadn't been told this morning that Bel would be the one picking him up, so why was the blond here?

"Where's Master?" Fran questioned, holding his schoolbag close to his chest.

"He had to stay behind at work." Bel shrugged as he slipped his hands into his pockets, walking towards the exit. "He asked for me to take you out for ice cream or somethin'."

"Oh." Teal eyes looked up at Bel curiously. "When will Master finish work?"

"In a few hours." The blond hissed as a teacher brushed against him, glaring at the other man. He then turned to look down at Fran again, noticing the frog teddy tucked tightly in the boy's arm. "Did you end up naming that thing?"

Fran shook his head, clutching his toy tighter. "He doesn't need a name..."

Bel snorted as he pushed open the double doors that led to the outside. "You know Mukuro put the last of his money on the stupid thing for you, right?"

"Huh?" Fran tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He only had enough money for his medication, but he instead gave himself withdrawals so that you could have it." The blond sneered down at the boy, calculating each and every little reaction he got from the younger.

"...I made Master sick...?" Fran looked visibly shaken at his own words, stopping just past the doors. "...I didn't know... I didn't... mean... to make Master sick..."

Bel leant down, patting teal hair. His obscured eyes shone with malice, his voice flowing smoothly. "Next time you want something, you can ask me~ I'll buy it for you~"

Fran nodded. He dropped his bag to the ground and shifted his teddy so that he could wrap his arms around Bel's middle. He buried his face against the man's stomach, feeling very happy that Mukuro had been the one to take him in – he liked Mukuro and Belphegor very much because they were so kind to him.

"Thank you..." Fran relaxed as he felt a large hand pat him on the back. "I love you, Bel-senpai."

Bel just grunted and shrugged; he had never been one to comprehend love. "Let's just get out of here – there's too many people around for my liking."

Fran nodded. He went to pick up his bag, only to find that Belphegor was taking it for him. He tried to smile in appreciation, but his facial muscles wouldn't cooperate with him.

"Senpai, instead of ice cream, can we go to the park so I can play?"

Bel felt his eyelid twitch in annoyance; he would much rather sit somewhere with ice cream than at a boring park with nothing to do. He was about to snap at the boy and childishly demand ice cream, but he was smart enough to know that if he fucked up too many times with Fran, either the boy wouldn't trust him or Mukuro would step in – and neither of them were desirable results at all if he were to eventually coax the younger into his bed.

"Yeah..." Bel muttered, pulling his car keys from his pocket. "Guess so..."

"Thanks." Fran approached the black BMW Bel owned, opening the front passenger door to climb in. He waited while the blond threw his bag into the back, and then they were on their way to the park.

Bel wasn't entirely sure of how to talk to Fran – he was used to being able to say whatever was on his mind to Mukuro, but he knew better than to try that with Fran; it would only lead to trouble.

Fran seemed content with the silence as he stared out of the window, hugging his teddy tightly to him.

Bel just cleared his throat, finding it awkward to talk to Fran without Mukuro around. "...How's school?"

"It's okay." Fran didn't even bother taking his eyes away from the window. "The work is easy."

Bel just nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. He didn't know why he was feeling so vulnerable in this position – Fran was just a kid, and if Bel wanted to, he could take the younger without a problem. ...Was he really that worried about Mukuro's reaction...?

"We wrote a short story about our weekend." Fran turned to look at Bel with amusement just visible in his eyes. "I wrote about how you kissed Master and then Mukurowl attacked you."

The blond's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he bit his lip, trying to resist the _very _strong urge to hurt the boy. He instead growled out, "That _wasn't _funny..."

"I thought it was." A hint of a smile crossed the younger's face. "Why do you kiss Master, though? I thought that was only for someone you love...?"

"Oi, are you implying I _don't _love Mukuro or some shit?" Bel glared at the boy, taking his eyes from the road for several seconds.

"Yeah, because you're _friends!_" Fran pointed out. "Master told me friends don't do that stuff."

"Hey, we've done a hell of a lot more than just kissing, brat." Bel sniffed in annoyance. "It sounds like you're jealous or something."

"Why would I be jealous?" Fran's teal eyes were emotionless as they fixed on Bel's face. "Your mouth is probably full of germs from all the shit you talk – I'd get sick if you tried to kiss me."

Bel's mouth fell agape before he raised a hand, slapping the boy across the face. He growled as he tried to move closer to the boy, ready to rip him apart, but he quickly stopped when he felt his car swerve in front of oncoming traffic.

Jerking the car back roughly into its own lane, the blond almost lost control of said vehicle – and the fact that he was doing well over the speed limit didn't help matters much.

"Stupid little piece of fucking..." Bel muttered under his breath as he focused on the road, ignoring Fran who was glaring at him.

"Don't hit me or I'm gonna tell Master," Fran threatened.

Bel snorted, taking a deep breath before he replied. "You'd tell the stupid pineapple anything, wouldn't you?"

"Yes." Fran rubbed his cheek against his teddy. "So do anything I don't like to me and I'll tell Master on you."

"Feisty, shishishi~ I like that." Bel licked his lips; he had always liked a challenge. "Would you tell him if I did something to you that you _liked_?"

"Yes." Fran spoke in a tone that screamed, _it's so obvious, senpai_.

"What if I asked you not to tell him?" Bel's smile was placid as he awaited the boy's answer.

"I would still tell him if you hurt me." The younger shrugged. "But if you told me not to say anything, it depends on what you're making me keep secret."

"Does that mean you're going to tell him I hit you today?" Bel was eager to hear the response; it was rare for someone to have the guts and go up against him – never before had a _kid _been the one to challenge him.

"I won't this time because you didn't know I would dob on you," Fran pointed out. "But hit me again and I'll tell Master."

"Aww, shit, Froggy, I'm so scared," the blond mocked. "What's he gonna do? Sic his stupid owl on me? My mink would kill it in seconds if he tried that."

Fran wasn't liking where this conversation was going; he was uncomfortable around the topic of death, but it seemed Bel hadn't realised that.

Bel looked at the younger curiously as Fran kept silent. "Well? What have you got to say about that, smartass?"

"That I don't like the idea of things dying..." Fran mumbled, hugging his teddy tight. "...I don't like this conversation anymore..."

Part of Bel honestly felt bad – just because he didn't understand loss and mourning didn't mean Fran didn't feel those foreign emotions.

"Wait, you mean you _liked _admitting you're a tattletale?" Bel shook his head before realisation hit him. "You were just trying to piss me off, weren't you?"

The corners of Fran's lips lifted as he nodded. "Did it work?"

Bel shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "How does Mukuro put up with you?"

"I'm good for Master." Fran's lips twitched once more, his childish instincts trying their hardest to put a smile on the boy's face.

The blond just sighed; Fran certainly _was _a handful.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Hello, little one." Mukuro stood up as Bel and Fran approached him. He had been sitting on the floor of the shop as he sorted through the bottom shelf of merchandise, happy to see two of his most precious people. "Did you have fun with Belphegor?"

Fran nodded. He lifted his arms into the air, his hands making grabby movements as he silently asked to be picked up. Mukuro obliged, holding the younger close to him.

"Thank you for looking after him, Belphegor."

Bel shrugged, leaning against the wall. Part of him was tense, wondering how Mukuro would react once he noticed the mark on Fran's cheek.

"What happened to your face?"

There it was. Bel watched warily as his friend cupped the boy's cheek in his hand, soft eyes regarding the bruise with concern.

"I got hit with a swing at school," Fran said. "I was chasing butterflies and wasn't watching where I was going."

Mukuro believed him. Part of him was relieved that no one had physically harmed the boy, but he still couldn't help but wish Fran hadn't been hurt at all. "I'm almost done here, little one. Go have a look around so I can finish this, okay?"

"Okay." Fran didn't complain as he was put down onto the ground; he merely wandered around the store, looking at everything with curiosity.

"That kid's a fucking brat," Bel complained, relaxed now that he knew he wasn't going to be in strife for having hit the kid. "He called Mink a hairy rat."

"Is that not true? Kufufu~"

"Oi!" Bel snapped. "Mink is just as sexy as his owner!"

"Oh, please don't tell me you've done _that _with the poor little thing?" Mock horror flashed in heterochromatic eyes as he knelt down, returning to his work.

"Hey, I'm not into furries!"

"I know, but most normal people don't refer to their pets as 'sexy'."

Before Bel could reply, the door to the back room opened and Mukuro's boss stepped out, a man who was near identical to Mukuro in looks albeit a much lighter shade of blue hair.

"Have you finished your job, Mukuro?" The man spoke in a voice as soft as Mukuro's, but unlike the man who had kindly opened his heart up to a young boy in need, the older male radiated nothing but malice.

"Almost, Daemon." Mukuro bowed his head, holding back a sigh; Bel knew that his friend and the younger's boss didn't get along – something about sexual harassment on the job.

"Once you've finished what you're doing, you may go home." Though Daemon seemed polite and respectful to his employee, Bel knew differently – that man was a master at deceiving others.

"Thank you." Mukuro fell silent as he focused his attention on what he was doing, subconsciously picking up the speed in order to get what he was doing done faster.

"Oh? Who's this?"

Mukuro tensed as he turned around, finding Fran standing in front of Daemon, teal eyes looking at the older male curiously.

"Aren't you cute?" Daemon chuckled as small arms reached into the air. He paid no heed to the other two adults as he reached down, picking Fran up and holding him. "What's your name?"

"Fran." The boy seemed as emotionless as ever, but Mukuro knew he was just curious about the stranger.

"Oh, Mukuro, is he yours?" Daemon turned to look at his employee, smirking at the younger male. "I didn't know you had a kid."

"I just adopted him last week," Mukuro explained, wincing as he saw the older male tighten his hold on the boy – if there was one person he wouldn't trust with Fran, it was Daemon. "That's why I took a week off and changed my hours."

"I see." Daemon showed no sign of putting the boy down, and Bel couldn't help but bristle in anger – if _anyone _was going to defile Fran, it was going to be _him, _not some stupid fucking man who didn't know how to back off of his own employee.

Stepping forward, Bel bit his lip as he approached Daemon. When he was close enough, he reached out and snatched Fran from the older male's arms, snarling as he did so – Fran was _his_.

"Senpai?" Fran wasn't entirely sure of why the blond had grabbed him like that; he had only approached the other male in the belief he was doing the right thing by getting to know Mukuro's friends.

"Stay away from him," Bel snarled to the older male, hugging Fran tight to his chest. Pointing towards his friend, he added, "He's not interested, either."

"Oh, he will be." A vicious look crossed Daemon's eyes before he chuckled, turning around to head back out into the store room. "He will be."

Bel just glared as he watched the other leave. Fran wrapped his arms around his neck, the frog teddy tucked safely in between their two chests. Mukuro just sighed as he focused on what he was doing, knowing that Daemon wouldn't bother him with Bel here.

Fran just looked in between the two older males in confusion, not entirely sure of why they didn't like the man he had just met; the light-blue-haired male seemed just as nice as Mukuro was, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

For several months now, Fran had been living with Mukuro. He still missed his family, but it was much easier to cope with someone who loved him so very much looking after him.

The boy had been curled up in his bed, sleeping peacefully beneath his lump of blankets. His frog teddy was tucked tightly in his arms, and he had been dreaming of eating a whole bowl of sweets he had stolen from Bel. He mumbled something in his sleep before his eyes cracked open, his rest disturbed by the hallway light coming on and footsteps moving towards his room.

"Master...?" Fran sat up in his bed, frowning as he lifted a hand to rub at his eyes. He didn't move, wondering what was going on; the alarm clock on the bedside table beside him flashed three-thirty-three, so why would _anyone _be awake at this hour?

No one replied to the boy, so Fran climbed out of the bed and left the room, looking down the hallway. He was just in time to see a shadow disappear into the living room, so he followed it.

"Master...?" Fran poked his head into the living room, trying to figure out where the man had gone. He could hear someone talking, but the voice sounded far too distressed to be Mukuro's. "Master, is that you?"

Fran was relieved when aforementioned man came out of the kitchen, a laptop under one arm while he held a phone to his ear. He followed the older male over to the couch, sitting down on it when his guardian did. He wasn't sure who Mukuro was talking to, but he could make something out about money costs.

Teal eyes watched as the laptop was turned on and an internet page was eventually brought up. He didn't know why the first thing Mukuro looked at was a website belonging to the closest airport – he _especially _didn't comprehend why someone would get up at three-thirty to look at flights going overseas.

"I can't afford these, I'm sorry."

Fran looked up as Mukuro spoke into the phone again, not understanding what was going on. He could hear the buzz of someone on the other end of the line replying, and then Mukuro spoke again.

"Let me talk to Belphegor. I'll call you back."

"Master, what's going on?" Fran didn't understand why Mukuro looked so distressed.

"Family emergency," the man explained as he hit the dial button with Bel's number on the screen.

Fran stayed silent as Mukuro waited for Bel to answer. He looked at his lap, pulling at the hem of his light green pyjama top.

"Belphegor, I'm sorry for calling at this hour..." Mukuro sighed as his friend shouted something incomprehensible at him before he explained. "Something's going on with Nagi, and... I can't afford to pay for my own ticket up there... May I borrow some money from you? I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

On the other end of the line, Bel muttered. "...How much?"

"Two-thousand for a return trip... I know that's asking a lot, but –"

Bel snorted, cutting his friend off. "What, you think I've got that kind of money to just pull out of my ass whenever I want it? I don't even have a _job_, Mukuro."

Mukuro fell silent. He lifted a hand to his mouth, biting at his nails, not knowing what to do – Bel had been his only hope of getting over to Japan, so _now _what was he supposed to do?

"You could go whore yourself out or somethin' – you're worth a few euros." When Mukuro didn't reply, Bel knew the younger hadn't appreciated his joke at all. "...I could ask Squalo for the money if you want."

"Could you?" Mukuro was near pleading with his friend, just wanting the last of his family to be okay. "Tell him I'll pay him back as soon as I can."

"Give me a few minutes to talk to him." With that said, Bel ended the call.

"Master, are you okay?" Fran shivered from the cold night air, moving closer to his guardian.

Mukuro nodded. "I am; my sister needs me, and I'm having trouble getting the money together to fly out and check on her."

Fran frowned. "...We can sell my things, Master; will that help?"

"No, we don't need to sell your belongings, little one." Mukuro offered a gentle smile to the boy. "Hopefully Bel will be able to help me out."

"Bel-senpai said Master is poor." Fran tilted his head, his eyes shining with concern. "Is that true?"

Mukuro's expression became strained at this question, but he tried his hardest to soothe his charge. "I may not have a lot of money, but the important thing is that once I finish my university course and hopefully get into my desired profession, we'll have lots of money then."

Fran nestled against the older male as a strong arm wrapped around him. It was silent between them for a few more minutes before the man's phone started ringing again, Bel's name coming up on the screen.

"He said he'll pay for it, but he wants you to come around so he knows he's booking the right flight." Bel yawned before he continued talking. "I had to go around there anyway and get chocolate milk from them, so I'll see you there."

"Thank you, Belphegor." Mukuro ended the call. He slipped the laptop onto the coffee table in front of them, looking down at Fran. "Go put a jumper on; we have to go for a drive."

Fran nodded. He jumped off the couch and disappeared into his bedroom, returning a minute later with a baggy black sweater on his body. He was lifted into the air by Mukuro, the man carrying him out of the house and into the car. He wasn't entirely sure of where they were going, but he didn't complain; he was too busy trying to keep his eyes open.

_**~~XX~~**_

Bel sat on the couch in the living room of his foster parents' home. Fran was in his lap, the boy fast asleep. Mukuro was standing by the desktop computer tucked away in the corner, the long-haired man named Squalo putting his credit card details into the system so that Mukuro had a ticket for the next flight up to the Japan.

"Thank you so much, Squalo." Mukuro would forever be grateful towards the man for helping him out – though Squalo and his partner were rough around the edges, they both cared for their foster child deeply and had quickly accepted Mukuro as Belphegor's best friend many years back. "I'll pay you back as soon as I have the money; I promise."

"Don't worry about it." Squalo pulled away from the keyboard as he rubbed at his eyes; he had had a late night as it was, and he was exhausted. "You don't need to pay us back; we can manage without the money."

Mukuro knew it was true; owning their own company, Squalo's family had more money than they knew what to do with – enough to pay off Bel's university costs, the blond's living arrangements _and _giving said blond enough money to live on each week. This would be nothing more than loose change in their pockets, honestly.

"You're not taking the brat with you?" Squalo confirmed as he double checked the details he had put in.

Mukuro shook his head. "I have no choice; I'll be too busy with Nagi to look after him. He's just a kid – he doesn't need to be dragged around a foreign country..."

Bel grinned at these words, patting teal hair. A sly look crossed his face before he spoke up, in a loud, confident voice. "Froggy can stay with me, Mukuro~ I'll look after him~"

Mukuro hated saying no to his friend, but he knew Belphegor really wasn't the best babysitter around – Bel had never hurt the boy during the hours he had put in to looking after Fran for Mukuro, but the blue-haired man didn't know how long he'd be away for, and Fran was a handful; he'd drive Bel crazy eventually.

"Actually, I was hoping Squalo could look after him as he has experience with kids, Belphegor..." Mukuro sent the older man a hopeless look, hoping Squalo would understand – it was nothing against Bel, but Fran required patience and understanding. "Will that be too much to ask for, Squalo?"

"I would, but Xanxus and I have quite a few business meetings outside of town." Squalo's dark eyes held an apologetic look in them. "I'm sure Bel can handle it; he's smart enough to work it out."

Mukuro wanted to disagree, explain that he didn't feel comfortable leaving his precious boy in the hands of someone who didn't know what he was doing, but he knew Bel would be hurt by his friend's lack of trust in him otherwise.

"...Yeah, I guess he is..." Mukuro looked uncomfortable as he approached Bel and Fran. He patted teal hair before he spoke to his friend, "You know the rules..."

Bel rolled obscured eyes. "Yeah, yeah; basically I'm not allowed to be horny and have to keep my house clean."

"If you _have _to watch porn, wait until he's sleeping, and be _quiet_." Mukuro knew he had to be stern with the older male – he didn't want Fran's innocence tainted because kids were _very _impressionable, and if there was one thing he'd learn from Bel, it was how to be a slut and want to fuck everything in sight. "And for God's sake, _no _whores – even if he's sleeping."

"I got it." Bel shrugged. "I hear it often enough. Shit, Mukuro, you act as if I can't look after a kid."

Mukuro didn't want to admit that that was _exactly _how he felt about Bel. He instead shook his head, getting back up to leave. "I'm going to go home and pack a bag. Can you take him home now so that he can go back to bed? You can get clothes and other things tomorrow."

"Okay."

The two friends said their goodbyes, Bel hugging Fran tightly to him. He was barely aware of Squalo asking him if he still wanted the chocolate milk, just glad that he had finally gotten a chance to have Fran all to himself and finally, _finally _try and coax the younger into_ things_.


	6. Chapter 6

When Fran awoke the next morning, he found himself in the spare bedroom of Bel's home. He blinked, not sure why he was here; the last thing he remembered from last night was falling asleep in Mukuro's car on their drive.

"Master...?" While it wasn't unusual for Fran to stay the night at Bel's home, he had never spent the night there without Mukuro with him; they shared the bed and the older male always waited until Fran woke up before he left the room for anything.

When the silence became Fran's only answer, he pushed the blankets from his body and left the bed, padding quietly to the bedroom door. He made his way to Bel's bedroom, finding the blond tousled in his own bed.

"Bel-senpai?" Fran climbed onto the bed, his small hands pushing at the older male's shoulders. "Bel-senpai, wake up."

Bel groaned as he swatted at the boy. He pulled the blankets higher up his body, his shaggy hair the only thing poking out. "Go 'way..."

"Why isn't Master here...?" Fran stuck his bottom lip out. He pulled up the blankets so that he could slide under, curling up against the man's chest.

"Fuck off!" Bel was _not _a morning person, and after last night, he was too exhausted to deal with someone trying to ruin his sleep. "Go stick a fork in a toaster or somethin'."

"Bel-senpai shouldn't tell me to do those things; if I was stupid, I might do it and die." Fran pressed closer to the stronger male, burying his face against Bel's chest. "I just want to know where Master is..."

"He died. Shut up and let me sleep." In Bel's sleepy mind, he had forgotten completely that Fran's family were dead, the reason why he was here in the first place. He hadn't meant to upset the younger; he had merely wanted to go back to sleep.

Fran whimpered as tears filled his eyes. He sniffed, trying to fight back his tears, only to let out a sob as he gripped tightly the striped pyjama top Bel wore. He could feel the taller body tensing beneath his touch, but he didn't pay it any heed; he just wanted Mukuro.

"...Shit, Froggy, I didn't..." Bel sighed as he wrapped an arm around the trembling body. He pulled Fran tight against him, not knowing how to handle a crying kid. "...I was just joking... Mukuro's fine, Froggy; he just won't be here for a while..."

Fran rubbed at his wet eyes with a tiny hand. "Promise...?"

Bel nodded. He ran a hand through teal hair as he had so often seen Mukuro do, shifting so that he laid on his back and Fran was on top of him. "...I was just joking..."

Fran curled up against the man, sighing as he buried his face in against a warm throat. He moved as he felt something hard poking at his leg, wondering what Bel slept with in his pockets.

"Senpai, something's poking me..." Instinctively, the boy reached down to try and grab whatever was annoying him, intending on throwing it away.

Bel moaned as a hand wrapped around his clothed member. He smirked, licking his lips. "It's called morning wood, Froggy. Have _you _ever had morning wood?"

"Senpai, how can you sleep with wood in your pocket? That'd be so uncomfortable!"

"It's only uncomfortable if you don't touch it, actually." Bel ghosted his fingertips over Fran's exposed hip. "Do you want to touch mine and see how good it can feel?"

Fran scrunched his nose up at this question. "I don't want to touch stupid wood. I'm hungry."

Bel snorted. "I see." Sitting up, he held Fran close to him, rubbing his hips subtly against the boy's; he knew desensitising Fran to his touch was the first way to go about bedding the younger – Fran would resist the more uncomfortable he felt about Bel's touch, after all.

Fran jumped off the bed. He waited by its side, watching as Bel kicked back the blankets to join him in the kitchen. He was surprised by how big the 'wood' must be as the blond's pants were greatly tented – Fran had never heard of sleeping with such an uncomfortable thing before.

The boy shivered as Bel rubbed up against him from behind, turning to give the older male an emotionless stare. "What was that for, senpai?"

"No reason." Bel smiled innocently as he crossed the bedroom to use the adjoining bathroom. "Go wait for me in the kitchen; I'll be out soon."

Fran nodded, leaving the man alone. Bel kicked the door closed behind him as he sat down on the closed toilet seat. He lowered his sleeping pants, exposing his engorged member.

"Fuck..." Bel hissed as he wrapped his hands around it, jerking them upwards. He rubbed the tip of his thumb against the head, drawing in a breath through his nostrils. "F-frog..."

Bel could picture himself buried deep inside that scrawny little body. He could hear the younger screaming, whether in pleasure or pain or even fear he didn't care – it all turned him on the same anyway.

Reaching down to fondle his sac, Bel licked his lips. He pretended the fingers touching himself weren't his, instead belonging to the tiny boy who had no idea of what he was getting into.

Bel was already on the verge of coming, and as soon as he grabbed toilet paper and covered the tip of his arousal, he let out a loud moan as he climaxed into it. He had done as he promised Mukuro and tried to remain quiet, but his thoughts were so arousing, his orgasm had hit him like a ton of bricks.

Bel panted softly as he tried to catch his breath, only to realise that he was horny enough for his shaft to harden once more.

The blond grinned to himself as he reached down again, knowing that when it came to Fran, his sexual thoughts about the boy were always a huge turn on.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Bel-senpai, why aren't you taking me to school?" Fran was sitting on the living room floor, staring up at the man lazed about on the couch with a laptop resting on his stomach. "Master says school is important."

"Unless you want to go in your pyjamas, you can stay here." Bel sighed as he started typing on the laptop again.

"But we can drive out to Master's home and get my uniform..." Fran pointed out. "I need clothes and my frog anyway, senpai..."

"Well, you know what _I _need? I need to get this fucking assignment done in an hour, and I haven't even started it yet." Bel turned to glare at the boy, as if it was Fran's fault he hadn't started on an assignment handed out over a month ago. "We'll go when I'm fucking ready!"

"I'm bored..." Fran pointed out, his teal eyes seemingly upset. "I'm _really _bored, senpai..."

"Watch TV or something." Bel shrugged. "Just leave me alone so I can get this done."

Fran looked at his lap, picking at his pyjama pants. He wanted to go to school, finding it boring just sitting here with nothing to do.

Getting to his feet, Fran climbed onto the couch beside the older male. He curled up on the edge, resting his face against Bel's ribcage. He heard the other complain, but he didn't move; he was just so bored, he may as well sleep.

Bel shifted the laptop so that he could type with one hand, using the other to pat the smaller body beside him. He tried to ignore the stirring in his groin, knowing he had to focus on his assignment.

_**~~XX~~**_

When Bel finally uploaded a half-assed assignment onto his university course's website, he was dismayed to notice he had missed the deadline by two seconds. Knowing his course coordinator most likely would not accept the assignment, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and rang his foster parents' business number.

"Varia Co., how may I help you?" The receptionist sounded bored.

"Put me on to Squalo or Xanxus," the blond demanded.

The female voice withheld a snort. "On what business are you calling?"

"They're my foster parents, you dumb fuck!" Bel snapped, already in a bad mood. "Put me on to them!"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds before music cut in, signalling that Bel had been put on hold as his call was transferred. Squalo picked the phone up just a minute later.

"What, brat?" Squalo growled.

"Squ-Squ, my assignment was two seconds late..." Bel held a firm pout in his voice, trying to seek his foster parent's sympathy. "They probably won't accept it now."

"Well, if you'd actually do your fucking work instead of leaving it for the last second, maybe it wouldn't have been late!" the older man scolded. "We're not paying for you to fucking slack off, Bel!"

"But, Squ-Squ, I want you to do something about it!" Bel made an agitated noise. "Make them accept it!"

"You fucking brat, I'm busy!" Squalo argued. "Stop being so goddamn lazy all the time, Belphegor!"

Bel huffed. He turned his attention to Fran as the boy stirred against him. He patted teal hair before he replied, "Do things for me!"

There was the sound of glass breaking in the background before Squalo shouted at someone. When he addressed Bel again, it was in an irritated tone. "This is the last time I do your shit for you, Belphegor!"

A happy grin crossed Bel's face at these words, his tone taking on a much more placid emotion. "Thank you, Squ-Squ~" With that said, Bel ended the call and tossed his phone away.

"Senpai...?"

Bel looked down at the boy, finding tiny hands rubbing the sleep from Fran's eyes. He licked his lips as he rolled over so that he crushed the boy against the couch, finding that Fran was a perfect fit beneath his body; with their hips pressing together, Fran barely made it up to Bel's chest.

"Yes~?" Bel giggled before he licked Fran's cheek, his happiness at getting Squalo to fight his battles for him obvious.

"Senpai, you're too fat – get off me." Tiny hands pushed at the man's chest as Fran tried to get the other away from him.

"Ushishishi~" Bel rocked his hips forward, sending a jolt of pleasure down Fran's spine. The younger gasped in surprise, his body tensing as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. "S-senpai...?"

"Yes, uncute kohai~?"

"I don't like this position; it's making me uncomfortable..." Fran mumbled, turning his head to the side. "I want to get up..."

Bel again thrust his hips, this time drawing a moan. He licked his lips, knowing not to take it too far too soon lest he have an angry pineapple after his blood.

Getting off the couch, Bel got to his feet, running his fingers through his blond locks. "Get dressed, Froggy; we have to go feed Mukuro's ugly winged rodent."

"But, senpai, I _can't _get dressed," Fran pointed out. "I don't have any clothes here."

"Oh, yeah. Shishishi~ I forgot about that." Bel just picked the younger up as he moved towards the kitchen, grabbing the car keys from the bench. He carried Fran out to his car and strapped him in before making his way haphazardly to Mukuro's home in order to try and avoid as many wounds as possible from the stupid feathered rat Mukuro called a pet.

During their visit to the unoccupied home, Bel found his friend's phone left carelessly on the table, clearly forgotten in the blue-haired male's haste to make it to the airport.

_Oh, well_, Bel had thought, smirking to himself as he noticed the missed calls from Mukuro's boss flashing on the screen – Mukuro clearly hadn't even called in to work before he had left. _At least now he can't bother us and hear from Fran what we do~ _


	7. Chapter 7

For two days now, Fran had been with Bel. He wasn't sure why the other kept rubbing up against him or running his hands down his tiny body, but he was calm about it; Bel wasn't hurting him, and that was the important thing.

The two were in town, Bel having just picked the boy up from school. They were on their way out to the pet store, needing food for the man's pet mink.

Unable to keep his eyes off the young boy, Bel licked his lips and said, "Froggy looks so cute in his uniform~"

Fran scrunched his nose up in distaste as he unbuckled his seatbelt, the car having just been parked. "I'm not cute, senpai. You always tell me I'm _un_cute. Make up your mind."

"Oh, but Froggy _is _cute when he's not being a smartass," Bel promised. He turned the car off and opened the door, waiting for Fran to exit as well before he locked it. "He's so cute, he makes me want to fool around with him. Want to take your clothes off for me when we get home?"

"Why would I want to take my clothes off for you?" Fran was genuinely confused about these words; he had always been taught that his clothes stayed _on _his body unless he was showering.

"Aww, come on, Froggy; you haven't got anything I haven't seen plenty of times before." Bel licked his lips. He was careful to keep Fran by the car as they spoke, knowing the trouble that could ensue if they were overheard.

"What if I'm really a girl, senpai?" Fran questioned in a dead-serious tone. "I bet you haven't seen one of _those _before."

Bel couldn't help but burst into laughter, knowing that though Fran wasn't implying anything of a sexual nature, merely an innocent point-out that boys and girls were built differently, the blond still couldn't help but find it hilarious at the thought that someone could think of him as a virgin.

"But, Froggy, I've seen _those _countless times, too~ I saw my first one when I was eleven~"

"Eww." Fran walked around the car to stand by Bel's side. "That's really gross, senpai – girls are gross."

"Oh, you think that way when you're young~" Bel reached down and picked Fran up. "Once you're older, you'll think differently~ No more of this conversation, okay? You'll get in trouble if someone hears you discussing this with me."

"Why would _I _get in trouble?" Fran pouted, believing Bel's words. "_You're _the one who started it!"

"Because I'm expected to talk about this stuff. That's why." Bel hugged Fran close to him as he walked towards the store, enjoying the comfort the boy brought to him – he wasn't used to people being so close to him casually, but he found he didn't mind when it was Fran nestled against him. "Now be quiet; we're going in."

"Okay."

Fran was quiet as Bel conversed with the cashier. Apparently the blond came here often enough for his pet that the workers had mink food specially prepared just for Bel. Fran caught something about 'special diet', so maybe that was why?

When at last the blond was given a hand taking the food out to his car, Fran was put back onto the ground. He didn't much like having to walk, finding it much warmer to be held in someone's arms.

"Thank you~" Bel flashed a smile to the woman who had carried his things out to the car, knowing that as long as he could charm the manager of the pet store, he could continue getting discounts on whatever he needed for his pet.

Fran climbed back into the car, clipping his seatbelt in as he waited for Bel to join him. He looked out of the window as the man reversed the car out of the park, turning around only when Bel spoke to him again.

"Are you sure you won't take your clothes off for me?" Bel put on his best smile, hoping it would infatuate the younger. "I won't tell anyone if you don't~"

"I don't want to." Fran shook his head.

"Well, what if we have a bath together?" Bel offered. "Please~? I like having baths with people~"

"I'm not a baby, senpai," Fran pointed out.

"I'll wash your hair for you~" Bel grinned at the younger, knowing that was bound to work – who _couldn't _resist having their hair washed for them. "My fingers are like magic, Froggy~ Your hair will be having an orgasm."

"Orgasm?"

"You'll find out what I mean if you have a bath with me~ Please~?"

Fran shrugged. In truth, he didn't want to have a bath with Bel, but he _was _curious as to what Bel had meant by giving his hair an orgasm.

"Okay, senpai."

"Yay~" Bel donned a laid-back smile as he turned his attention back to the road. He was greatly looking forward to tonight, wanting to see how far he could get with the boy. "Thank you, Froggy~"

Already, Bel could feel his pants tightening around his groin. Squalo had once compared him to a horny, insatiable teenager with the way the blond could become so excited in such a short amount of time, but Bel didn't agree with his foster parent – he simply liked the idea of sleeping with a kid a little _too _much.

_**~~XX~~**_

Bel had barely been able to contain his excitement throughout the day, often disappearing into his bedroom for copious amounts of time with a box of tissues at hand. Fran had barely noticed anything strange about this, thinking that perhaps Bel was just napping or something.

Once dinner had been eaten and Fran played by himself while Bel cleaned up – only because Mukuro had made sure Fran would tell him if the house was still a mess – Bel declared it was bath time. His excitement was visible, but Fran barely took notice of the large bulge in the man's pants; he instead was happy to finally get a bath, his curiosity about 'orgasms' having never wavered throughout the day.

"Is the little frog going to undress in front of me?" Bel licked his lips as he closed the door to the bathroom behind them, locking it for good measure – he couldn't be too careful if Fran decided to run, after all.

Fran frowned at these words. He turned his back to Bel, hesitantly grabbing the hem of his school shirt. He bit his lip as he lifted it, feeling very uncomfortable about dressing in front of the man.

"C'mon, Froggy; I'm not going to eat you." Bel smirked as he mentally added, _yet_. "Grow a pair and take it off."

Fran's frown grew further at these words, but he did as he was told. He shivered, feeling as if obscured eyes were drinking in his very being.

Bel just leant against the wall, grinning as he watched the red school shirt leave its owner's body. He took in the scrawny body before his eyes, fighting back the temptation to stroke himself.

"Don't forget your pants," Bel pointed out. "Can't bathe with them on."

Fran nodded. He reluctantly lowered his pants, kicking them off, revealing the boy's rear to the blond.

Bel moaned softly, his shaft starting to ache from how aroused he was. He wanted to reach out and touch the _much_ smaller length, but he knew he had to be patient.

Fran was uncomfortable as he stood with his back to the older male; he wanted Bel to hurry up and fill the bath so that he could get in and hide himself.

Bel hastily pulled his own clothing from his body, kicking it into the corner. His shaft stood proudly against his body, but part of him was relieved Fran hadn't noticed it yet; it would lead to questions, and if Fran figured out this was premeditated, he wouldn't react well.

The blond turned the taps to the bath on, filling the tub quickly. Fran still had his back to the other, so when strong arms wrapped around him, his breath hitched.

"C'mon, Froggy~" Bel picked the boy up and carried him into the tub. He lifted a long leg over the edge and stepped in, resting so that Fran was sitting in his lap with his back to Bel's chest. "Now we wait for the tub to fill, shishi~"

Fran nodded. He felt more comfortable in this position, so he pressed backwards so that his head rested against Bel's shoulder.

It was quiet between them as they waited for the water to reach a decent height. When it did, Bel hummed as he turned the taps off and then reached for a bottle of shampoo.

The blond tipped a decent amount into his hand before he moved to Fran, rubbing it into soft teal locks as gently as he could. He made sure to rub his fingertips against the boy's skull, showing the younger just how skilled he was with his fingers alone.

Fran closed his eyes, instinctively moving closer to the pleasurable feeling. He let out a soft moan, having never experienced such a nice feeling before. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his groin, but he paid it no heed; he was too busy focusing on the sensations Bel was giving him.

"S-senpai..." Fran didn't know why his breathing had quickened; he was just so overwhelmed by pleasure.

Bel was experienced enough to know what he was doing to the younger; leaning down, he rested his face against Fran's shoulder, smirking. He nibbled at the exposed skin for a few seconds before he whispered, "Is the little froggy hard?"

When only pants answered him, Bel snaked a hand into the boy's lap, feeling for himself that he had in fact aroused the younger.

"Let me help the frog." Bel wrapped his hand around the growing erection, drawing a gasped whimper from the younger. He pulled his hand from teal hair, using his arm to wrap around the frail waist as Fran tried to pull away from him. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you."

"S-senpai... No..." Fran's eyes were glazed over in pleasure, but there was fear in his voice. "T-that's bad..."

"No, it's not," Bel soothed, squeezing the erection in his hand carefully. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. You'll feel very good if you let me do it."

Fran tried to resist, but he was silenced as Bel dragged his hand upwards, sending a jolt of pleasure down the younger's spine. He cried out, his hips arching instinctively into the feeling. "B-bel-senpai...!"

Bel moaned softly at the boy's voice. He licked his lips, moving his hand faster along the boy.

Fran had never felt anything like this before; he couldn't explain it other than overwhelming sensations that made him feel so good, his body trembled. He panted harshly as he whimpered, trying to keep up with what he was feeling.

"Froggy..." Bel licked at the boy's neck, using his other hand to reach up and caress tiny nipples. He rubbed his thumb over one, intensifying Fran's feelings.

"Senpai...!" Fran's body quivered as his hips continued to buck forward of his own accord. He reached up, biting at his knuckles, trying to get a hold of himself. It felt as if something in his stomach was about to snap, and then all of a sudden, he was blinded by a huge spike of pleasure.

Screaming loudly, Fran's eyes widened as his tiny body struggled to contain the overwhelming pleasure. His body slackened and fell into Bel's once he felt normal again, his breath coming in harsh gasps.

Bel just busied himself by sucking at the other's neck as he lazily caressed himself, wanting to draw out his own pleasure now that he had the boy of his affections so close to him.

While Fran's eyes closed tightly, too exhausted to continue his bath, Bel just grunted as he felt himself coming closer to his own peak.

"Shit..." When Bel did come, he made sure to splatter himself over the younger's body, excited to see how the boy would look covered in come.

Satisfied with what he was seeing, Bel just let himself fall back into the tub, wrapping his arms around the boy as he lazed around, too content to move.

Now all that was left was to make sure Fran wouldn't tell anyone, and hopefully join him in bed later.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, when Fran woke up, he was cradled tightly against Bel's chest. The man was still asleep himself, his breathing steady and peaceful, and Fran didn't have the heart to wake him; instead, he laid in the man's arms, closing his own eyes once again.

It was soothing in the room with just Bel's breathing and the calm rise and fall of his chest; Fran found it as calming as being with Mukuro.

Unsure of how much time had passed, Bel's phone eventually started beeping loudly as his alarm went off. Fran watched as the blond merely mumbled something unintelligible before he grabbed his phone from beneath his pillow and turned the alarm off, going straight back to sleep.

"Senpai..." Fran started wriggling in the man's arms, knowing Bel had at least _attempted _to wake up and get the boy ready for school. "Senpai, I have to go to school..."

"Five more minutes..." Bel murmured, pulling away from the younger as he pulled the blankets tighter around him.

"Senpai!" Fran continued to call for his current guardian, knowing he would eventually get the other out of bed – Bel _hated _being bothered when he tried to sleep, after all. "Senpai, wake up!"

Finally, the man got out of bed, albeit reluctantly. He muttered angrily to himself as he stormed into the bathroom, intending on taking a shower before he did anything else – despite his living conditions, a constantly-messed house and whoring around, Bel took very good care of his hygiene.

Fran moved into the spare bedroom he was _supposed _to be staying in – though he had spent more time in Bel's than this one – and gathered his school uniform. He just now noticed he was still naked from his previous bath, as if Bel hadn't bothered to dress him and just went straight to bed.

"Creepy senpai..." Fran whispered to himself as he slipped underwear onto his skinny legs. He grabbed his green pants next, knowing he still had a while to get ready. "At least have put some pants on me..."

Once Fran had dressed himself and grabbed his precious frog, he moved out to the kitchen and sat at the dining table, waiting for Bel to come and make breakfast.

Fran hated when Bel was too busy making his usual weird noises in the shower to actually _clean _himself – it made waiting so much longer.

_**~~XX~~**_

"You're not going to tell anyone about last night, are you?" Bel questioned as he placed a plate of French toast in front of the boy.

"Why shouldn't I?" Though Fran didn't mean it as a threat, Bel took it that way.

The blond tensed before he spat through grit teeth, "Because if you tell anyone, then we'll _both _be in trouble and they'll take you away from Mukuro and never let you see us again."

Fran frowned as he nodded; he didn't want that to happen, so he would keep it between them. "Okay, senpai..."

"Good Froggy." Bel sat down at the table next to Fran, a plate of sushi in front of him. "Does Froggy want to do it again today after school?"

"..." Fran looked down at his lap – while it was true it had felt good – _too _good – something about it told him it was wrong to do with _Bel_. "...I don't... know..."

"Why not?" Bel flashed an innocent smirk at Fran, trying to coax him into agreeing.

"...Because it... doesn't feel right..." Fran admitted. "...It..."

"Did it not feel good?" Bel feigned innocence and caring.

"I-it _did, _senpai, but..." Fran tilted his head as he tried to convey his thoughts, "...it feels like it's... it's _bad_..."

"It's not _bad_," Bel promised. "It's just a game two adults play. That's all."

"But _I'm _not an adult," the boy pointed out.

"I know, but Mukuro and I play this game all the time, and I thought it would be a good idea to teach you how to play now just in case you ever wanted to play it when you're older."

There was something about Bel the younger didn't trust in this moment, but he didn't question it – he could always ask Mukuro about it when the blue-haired man came back, anyway.

"...Does Master like playing it...?" Fran asked, deciding that just giving in would be the easiest thing to do – Bel was too persistent if there was something he wanted, after all.

"He does. He played it all the time with his stupid boyfriend. So, will Froggy play it with me again after school?"

Fran shrugged. "I guess..." It was then the boy noticed that, while the man was still wearing his favourite striped shirt, he had tamed his hair ever so slightly today and wore a black-and-beige coloured jacket with a fur-coated hood. He wore pants with the same pattern as the jacket, and there was a red emblem on the sleeve of the jacket. "What's with the getup, senpai?"

"I have classes today, and then I have to run out to Squ-Squ's company and head it until you finish school." Bel shrugged. "I get to boss people around for a few hours~ Pretty cool, huh?"

"If I had a company, I wouldn't leave you in charge of it – you'd probably burn the building down or wreck everything, senpai."

"Oi!" Bel waved his fork in the air in a threatening manner. "I do just _fine _running it! I was taught what to do when I was _eight!_"

"I'm seven, and I bet I'd do a better job than you would now."

"Little shithead..." Bel muttered in annoyance. "You're such a brat."

"I know." Fran offered a slight smile, showing that he appreciated what the other thought about him.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Did senpai have a good day of ruining his foster parents' company?"

Bel narrowed obscured eyes as Fran closed the car door, the boy having just finished school. "I didn't do anything of the sort, asshole."

"I don't believe you, but okay." Fran strapped his seatbelt in as he felt the man push down on the accelerator with more force than he needed to – especially since he was parked in a school zone behind a car he only _just _missed swiping. "How were your classes?"

"Boring as usual." Bel shrugged. "Too fuckin' easy."

"Is senpai almost finished his course?" the younger questioned.

"I would be, but Mukuro and I were late applicants. We started a few years after we graduated."

Fran clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Lazy senpai."

The blond snorted, knowing it was no use; Fran was just so snarky, he could twist almost anything back on you and piss you off.

At least if he were lucky, Bel would be getting a fuck tonight – he deserved it after having put up with Fran for so fucking _long_.


	9. Chapter 9

While Fran had been outside playing in the gardens and chasing anything that would run from him, Bel had devised his master plan. He knew that Fran had already given the okay to 'play' again, but this time Bel wanted to take it further. The only issue was that if he ended up hurting the small boy too much, either someone would notice and get suspicious, or the younger would most certainly tell Mukuro.

Bel wasn't one to be put off by things like this – he knew he'd find a way to get around it sooner or later because there was no way he was passing up a chance like this to finally sleep with a kid.

"Oi! Frog!" Bel had opened the front door, finding Fran had climbed up into one of the surrounding trees. The boy looked bored as he prodded at a nest of eggs, his legs hanging haphazardly over the edge of the branch he sat on. "Get out of there before you fall!"

Fran shook his head as he swung his legs back and forth. He called out, "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Bel growled as he approached the tree, ready to climb up and push the boy to the ground if he had to. "You got up there, didn't you?"

"Well... yeah... But that doesn't mean I can get down, senpai."

"Fucking hell..." The stronger male stood beneath the branch his charge was sitting on. He looked up, holding his arms out as if he were trying to encourage the younger into falling. "Jump, Froggy. I'll catch you."

"Senpai... That's a long drop – what if you forget to catch me and I go splat?"

"I won't, stupid; trust me." Bel thrust his arms into the air, as if he was trying to emphasise his point.

"But I _don't _trust you," Fran called down. Bel wasn't sure why those words struck a hidden emotion inside him, but for whatever reason, it _hurt _to know the boy didn't trust him.

"..." Bel lowered his arms as he turned around to walk back inside. He took two steps before his obscured eyes widened and he spun back after hearing Fran's frightened cry accompanied by the snapping of the branch he sat on. He instinctively reached out again, just in time to simultaneously dodge the falling branch and catch Fran from a fifteen-foot drop. He held the now-shaking boy close to his chest, frowning as he looked at the fear in those teal orbs. "Are you alright, Froggy?"

Fran nodded, reaching out to grip a beige stripe on the older male's jacket tightly. He rested his head against the strong chest, listening to the softly-beating heart. "S-senpai..."

"Shit, Froggy, why didn't you just jump when I told you to?"

"..." Fran looked away before he explained, "...It wasn't that I didn't trust you, senpai... I was just scared..."

Those words took a lot off Bel's chest; the man laughed before he hugged Fran tighter. He offered a lopsided grin before he asked, "So the frog _does _trust me?"

The younger nodded. "Of course, senpai; I wouldn't want to be here if I didn't."

Leaning down, the blond placed a kiss on Fran's forehead, just glad to know that he was trusted – why did the thought of Fran hating him hurt him so much? "Will the frog play another game with me before dinner~?"

Fran looked away, not sure what to say; he didn't really want to play _that _game with Bel, but at the same time, it hadn't hurt before – surely it wouldn't hurt this time?

"...Will senpai be nice again...?" Fran wrapped his arms around the man's neck, burying his face against a warm throat.

"Of course." Bel carried the younger back into the house, making sure to kick the front door closed and lock it behind them – he didn't want anyone getting in, after all. "You'll really like this game, frog."

Fran didn't speak as he was brought into Bel's room. He was laid down on the man's bed, looking up at the older male curiously as Bel's jacket and striped shirt were discarded. He winced slightly as large hands reached out for him, a shudder running through his body as his own top was removed.

"Senpai...?" Fran felt crowded as the larger male lay on top of him. He reached out, tangling thick fingers into block locks, not understanding why the man was licking at his chest. "Senpai, this is uncomfortable..."

"You'll like it," Bel promised. He dragged his tongue down the middle of the fragile chest, moving to the left to take a nipple into his mouth. Fran cried out as he arched his chest, soft pants escaping his lips already.

The unfamiliar feeling of his groin stirring once again startled Fran, but he was smart enough to understand it was caused by the things he was feeling – it had never happened to him before, at least that he could remember, so surely these were no coincidences?

Bel switched nipples, drawing the right one into his wet cavern next. He sucked away greedily as he lowered a hand, using it to rub against the growing bulge in Fran's school pants.

"Is the little froggy a naughty boy?" Bel grinned as he squeezed the lump with force, drawing a strangled moan from the younger's throat. "Does the frog need me to pleasure him?"

Fran wasn't exactly sure what the older male was talking about, but he nodded anyway. Breathing became harder for him as a hand slipped in beneath the waistband of his pants, grasping his small shaft with calloused hands.

"S-senpai...!" Tears welled up in the corners of Fran's eyes, not from fear, but the overwhelming sensations that were slowly drowning him. "S-senpai, I...!"

"You're so small, Froggy~" Bel's grin widened as he caressed the boy as gently as he could manage. "No wonder Mukuro calls you his 'little one'~ Does Froggy want to see just how big _I _am~?"

The boy just made a choked noise. Bel giggled as he moved to undo his belt, pulling it away before he undid the zip. Pulling both his pants and boxers down in one go, he allowed his large erection to spring free of its confines.

Teal eyes looked at the arousal curiously. A small finger reached out, the tip of it ghosting against the head. Bel moaned softly at this, shifting his hips so that he was closer to the younger.

"Does Froggy want to suck on it?" Bel offered, smiling in a deceivingly kind manner. He grinned when Fran looked at him with a confused look in his eyes, understanding it would be a surprising question – he remembered a time when he, too, had never even _considered _blowjobs existed. "Give it a lick; see if you like it."

Fran hesitated before he moved his face forward, the hands on his body having stilled for the moment. He scrunched his nose up before he extended his tongue, licking shyly against the heated skin.

"Does Froggy like the taste?" Bel ran his fingers through teal hair, coaxing an answer from the boy. Fran nodded, sticking his tongue out again. The blond moaned as he curled his fingers into the younger's hair. "Shit... Put your mouth around it..."

Fran did as he was told, trying to fit the large erection into his tiny mouth. It wasn't easy, and Bel wondered if the boy's rear would be as tight as his mouth.

"Just suck what you can..." Bel guided. He started rubbing the younger's groin again, a hum of pleasure vibrating around his own shaft. "Use your tongue... A-ahh... Yes, that's it... Just like that..."

Fran whimpered as pleasure spread through his body again. He wasn't completely sure of what he was doing, but he knew that both of them were feeling good right now, and that was all that mattered.

"Hey, Froggy..." Bel whispered, leaning down to lick the shell of the boy's ear. He giggled when the other hummed around him again, ghosting his fingertips over soft skin. "Froggy, can I finger you for a bit?"

The boy nodded, no idea what he was agreeing to – so when a wet object slid over his tiny entrance, he whimpered and pulled away, shaking his head.

"D-don't touch me there!" Fran tried to demand, a hint of emotion crossing his face. "That's a bad place to touch me!"

Bel stilled his finger, letting it rest against the small hole. He smiled before he laughed, saying, "Shishi~ It's not bad; this is where Mukuro and I touch each other~"

"But..." Fran frowned, still trying to put on a brave face. "..."

"But nothing, little frog." Bel leant down, pressing his lips against Fran's. "It's not bad – I _promise_. You'll like it."

"What if I _don't _like it...?" Fran whispered, the fear in his voice clear.

With no intention of following through with his words, Bel soothed, "If you don't like it, I'll stop – but at least give it a chance, alright?"

Fran frowned before he nodded – if Mukuro did it with Bel, than surely it wasn't all bad?

Bel smirked as he sucked at Fran's throat, leaving marks only _just _noticeable if you searched for them. He caressed the boy's entrance for a few seconds more before he leant across the bed, grabbing a small bottle of lube from beneath his pillow. He squirted some onto his fingers before he slipped the first digit into Fran, earning a _very _uncomfortable look from the younger.

"Senpai..."

"Shh..."

Bel slid his finger around inside the other, searching for that special spot inside Fran that would make the boy squeal with pleasure. Fran just whimpered and shifted in discomfort, no sign of pleasure yet, but Bel trusted in his experience – he would make the boy scream his name as surely as the sun would rise.

Fran was stressed, not liking what Bel was doing to his body. He whimpered louder as he felt a second finger enter him, instinctively wriggling away – he didn't like this, and he didn't think he ever would.

Bel breathed heavily as he tried his hardest to contain himself; he just wanted to slam inside the boy here and now, caring nothing for the younger's pleasure – however, that look of fear in those teal eyes were what stopped Bel from turning this into full-blown rape; never before had _any _of that stopped him, so why was it now?

"Here's the last finger," Bel promised as he slid the last one into the boy. "Just stretching you a bit to make it hurt less."

"...Hurt... less...?" Fran gulped, not knowing what to expect – what was the blond going to do to him that would hurt him...?

Bel nodded, licking at his lips. "I'm going to shove my cock into your cute little ass~ It might hurt, so try and relax~"

"What...?" Fran wasn't entirely sure of what the other was talking about – something about pushing something else into Fran's rectum. Weren't the fingers enough...? Why did the blond want to put _more _things in there...? "S-senpai, I don't..."

"Don't be scared, little froggy~" Bel pulled his fingers out and instead grabbed the younger by the hips, pulling him closer. "As long as the amphibian relaxes, it won't be as painful~"

"Senpai, w-wai – _senpai!" _Fran screamed as his eyes widened in pain, his tiny body tensing in what he could only describe as his body being torn in two. "_Senpai! Senpai, it hurts!_"

Bel moaned, quivering as he thought to hold himself still – Fran's screams were delicious, and he just wanted to pound the younger as hard as he could. The boy shook beneath him, screaming his head off as tears ran down pale cheeks. Blood dribbled down his thighs, a sure sign that Bel's rough entry had done more damage than he had anticipated – but then again, Fran _was _still a boy, and this was the first time the blond had indulged in his sick interests with one.

Busying himself, the man nibbled at Fran's chest, drawing blood and leaving marks where he knew no one would see them; the amazing tightness around his shaft was bliss, and it took all of his control to let the younger adjust.

When at last Fran's sobs and screams quieted down, Bel started moving again. Sharp nails grabbed at the man's back, digging in for dear life as Fran instinctively tensed, trying to push out whatever was invading his body. Bel just groaned as he felt his own blood being drawn, unable to stop himself from thrusting in at a faster pace.

Fran would have told the other to stop had he suddenly not been overwhelmed by an onslaught of pleasure greater even than when his small length was caressed. His body jerked and he screamed loudly, throwing his head back, not understanding why all of a sudden it felt as if his entire body had just become so sensitive, he could feel nothing but pleasure.

"So the little froggy _is _a whore~" Bel licked at Fran's face as he thrust his hips back into the same area he had before. He was again met by a loud cry, and never before had he heard such satisfying sounds during this act. "I like whores, but Froggy should only be _my _slut~ I don't like sharing~"

"Senpai...!" Fran's face was red and sweaty, his fragile body saturated in sweat. "Senpai, I...!"

Bel continuously rocked his hips, getting faster and harder with each one until he was eventually sliding the boy across the bed, the frame slamming into the wall. He knew he should be gentler, but he just couldn't help it – Fran was so tight and edible, and he wanted _more_.

"Oh, fuck..." Bel moaned; Fran was so tight, it was difficult to move – the only reason he could was because of the blood he had drawn from the boy, acting as lubricant. "Shit, Froggy... Nnnhn..."

"Bel-senpai!" Fran bucked his hips upwards as he felt a hand wrapping around his small member, jerking him in time with Bel's thrusts. "Bel-senpai, I can't...!"

The blond squeezed the tiny shaft in his hands carefully, knowing that Fran just wouldn't last any longer – not only was he a virgin, he was far too young for his body to fully understand this.

"I want Froggy to last longer..." Bel sucked against Fran's throat as he made sure to bring the other into a climax – as much as he was enjoying this, he had to be careful with Fran lest someone find out and tell Mukuro. "Does Froggy want me to help him with his stamina~?"

"I-I...!" Fran tossed his head side-to-side as he arched his body, grasping at the bed sheets beneath them desperately. He screamed as he felt the pleasure spike once again, unable to contain it all.

"Froggy will look so beautiful once he starts to come~" Bel allowed the contractions around his own shaft milk him into his release. He moaned loudly as he emptied himself inside the boy, looking down to grin as he watched the blood and semen flow out past his shaft. "I can't wait until Froggy can come~"

Fran continue to lay down as his body trembled. He panted heavily as he watched Bel with emotionless teal eyes, not entirely sure of how he felt about their 'game', but knowing that – though it _had _hurt him at first – Bel had made it better than ever for him. Surely that meant the man cared, right...? Maybe it was a game that _did _hurt at first, and _would _continue to hurt if the other participant didn't want it to feel good for their partner...?

"Bel-senpai..." Fran tried to move closer to the older male, only to wince and stop as his rear throbbed angrily. "...Bel-senpai, does... Does it only feel good because you _want _it to...?"

Bel understood what the younger was asking – did you make it good for me because you love and care about me when you could have only pleasured yourself? "Of course, Froggy; I didn't want you to be in pain when I was showing you how fun it is~"

Fran nodded, satisfied with the answer. He reached out, his fingers brushing against slender fingers before they reached out and wrapped around a single digit. He closed his eyes, too tired to keep them open any longer.

Bel stayed by his side, lying next to him as he pulled the boy into his arms. He caressed teal hair, waiting until he knew he wouldn't wake the younger up before leaving to have a shower and eat something.

Why was it that Bel was starting to feel more for the boy than just the lust it had all originally started out as?


	10. Chapter 10

As much as Bel wanted it, Fran was just too sore to have another round the next day. The blond had kept the boy home from school, knowing exactly what would happen if he sent the younger – Fran would be in too much pain to move or even _sit, _and then the school would get suspicious and interrogate them both.

"C'mon, Froggy...!" Bel pouted, shaking the younger's shoulder. "I'm horny...!"

"No, senpai..." Fran had pulled the blankets over his tiny body, his back to the man. "It hurts..."

Bel sighed before an idea struck him. "Well, will Froggy do something _else _with me, then? It won't hurt~"

"What's that, senpai...?" The boy just wanted to sleep, but _damn _was Bel persistent.

"Let's watch porn~ Shishi~ I'll teach the Froggy how to jerk himself off~" For good measure, Bel licked across the younger's cheek. "It'll feel good for Froggy~"

Fran nodded, hoping that the sooner he got this over with, the faster he could go back to sleep. He groaned softly when he was rolled onto his back, propped up with a mountain of pillows so that he had a clear view of the widescreen TV that sat across from them.

"Ushishishi~" Bel got off the bed and moved towards the large rack of DVDs that sat next to it. He picked one up at random, wondering if Fran would get off harder at hetero or homosexual porn.

Probably homosexual, as he had been doing fine with Bel.

"Froggy is going to enjoy this~" the blond opened the case and slipped it into the DVD player. He turned the TV on before he moved back to the bed, curling around Fran as his pants tightened in anticipation. "It's going to make Froggy so hard~"

Fran stared blankly at the TV as he watched two young men start talking about things he didn't understand. He was quickly losing interest as the conversation went on for a few minutes longer, but then –

"Senpai...?" Fran lifted the blankets and looked down at his lap, finding his groin had started stirring as the two men on the TV kissed.

"It gets better~" Bel promised, already fisting himself slowly. He kept his eyes focused on Fran, wanting to see what the younger would do.

Fran closed his eyes and moaned softly as he turned his head to the side; watching the two men start undressing each other was making him feel even funnier.

"Just touch yourself, Froggy~" Bel soothed. He shifted his hips so that Fran could see his example. "Just like how I touch you~ It'll feel good~"

The boy nodded. He hesitantly took hold of his small shaft, hissing at the pleasure that enveloped him. He moved his hand, stroking gently, moaning again at the noises from the TV.

"That's it..." Bel started twisting his wrist faster, his eyes fixated on the younger. He licked his lips, having never thought watching someone else jerk off would be so arousing. "Just like that, Froggy... You're doing good..."

Fran had never done this to himself, his only experience having been done by Bel. It didn't feel as good as Bel made it when he did it himself, but it was still a very pleasurable thing.

Bel was already dripping pre-cum, excited beyond belief at what he was watching. He paid no heed to the TV, finding that Fran was _much _more interesting to watch.

"Shit, Froggy..." Bel caressed the head of his shaft with his thumb, smearing the sticky fluid over it. He then reached out, rubbing it against Fran's face, watching as a small tongue instinctively licked it up. "Froggy, how does it feel?"

"G-good... Really... Really good..."

With Fran's inexperience, it didn't take long for him to reach his peak, but it seemed he was so excited, he was quick to become aroused once again. Bel like this; he felt as if he was quickly building up Fran's stamina – that would be important because Bel planned to have him like this as often as he could.

Bel was still going strong by the time Fran got close to his second orgasm, but before either of them could finish, the sound of the doorbell ringing quickly stopped them both – Bel would usually have ignored it as he wasn't expecting anyone, but he couldn't take the chance that it was Mukuro on the other side of the door – the blue-haired man would get in one way or another and then find them like this otherwise.

"Stay here," Bel instructed as he moved the blanket to hide Fran's naked body. He slipped his clothing back on, quickly fixing his hair, before he left the room, hoping with all his being it wasn't Mukuro – he was fucked if it was, and not in the good way. "If anyone comes into the house, make sure to turn the TV off and keep yourself covered."

"I can't go anywhere even if I wanted to, senpai," Fran called back. He continued to stroke himself, his teal eyes eagerly watching the TV Bel hadn't bothered to turn off.

Bel muttered and cursed to himself as he opened the front door a minute later. He was surprised to find another blond standing on his doorstep, one he hadn't seen in years.

"What does the Bucking Horse want?" Bel asked, distrust in his tone – this was the man Mukuro's boyfriend had left him for, after all.

"Well..." the man whom Bel knew as Dino rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he tried to explain, "...Mukuro's been trying to ring Kyouya, but Kyouya won't answer any of his calls or take messages if someone else tries to leave them. I figured since this is the first time either of them have tried to make contact, it must be important, so I rang Mukuro bac –"

"-Get to the point," Bel demanded. "I am _busy_."

"Long story short, Mukuro lost his phone and doesn't remember your number by heart and is worried about the boy he adopted. He was trying to get Kyouya to check up on you both, but I'm doing it instead."

"Froggy is fine." Bel went to slam the door closed, but he was stopped by Dino putting his foot in between the door and its frame. "Didn't you hear me? He's _fine_ – no need to come in."

"It's just... usually when someone is checking up on someone else, they actually _speak_ to them and confirm it." Dino looked embarrassed, but Bel had to give it to the blond; Dino seemed to have taken his task _very _seriously. "Is it okay...?"

_Fuck fuck fuck... _On the outside, Bel was calm, but inside he was starting to panic; if he let Dino inside, there was no doubt the older male would piece together the puzzle and call Mukuro back, but if he demanded for the other to leave, everyone would know something was going on. _Shit, I haven't even turned the TV off... Dino may be clumsy, but he's _not _stupid..._

_Fuck..._

"...Two minutes," Bel said at last, hoping by some chance things would work out. "Froggy is sick today."

"That's why he's not at school?" Dino nodded to himself in understanding.

_Fuck! Why didn't I just _say _he was at school?! _Bel was stressed, but he fought his hardest to keep it from the other blond. _Fuck! I should- _

"Yes. Froggy is sick, so I let him stay home." _Just play it cool, Bel. Play it cool. _

Dino smiled at the younger blond as he stepped into the house. He was expecting to find the boy curled up on the couch as he was sick, but he wasn't there. He wasn't in the spare room either, and when he found the youngest curled up in Bel's bed, the blankets slipping down to reveal a bare chest and a small bulge in the blanket, the man couldn't help but become suspicious.

Bel leant against the doorframe, his arms folded against his chest as he watched carefully, hoping with all his being Fran would be smart enough to keep everything to himself.

"Hi." Dino smiled down at the boy as he sat on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the idea that something was happening in this house – it wasn't _normal _for a boy to be sleeping without clothes in an adult's bed, let alone give the impression they were aroused, and knowing what he did about Bel, he worried that the other has been doing something to the boy. "I'm one of Mukuro's friends. My name is Dino. He asked for me to check up on you."

"I'm Fran." The boy smiled up at Dino before he turned to Bel. "I turned the TV off, senpai; you forgot to do it on your way out."

"Bel said you were sick," the older blond pointed out, worried to find the confusion in teal eyes that looked healthy enough – Bel had obviously lied and kept the younger home for a different reason.

"No, I'm not. I'm just really sore." Fran had no idea of the strife he was about to get Bel into by saying these things.

"Why's that?" Dino was careful to keep a smile on his face, knowing he needed the younger to tell him what was going on – if everything was just coincidence and he told Mukuro Bel was doing things...

"Because I was playing a game with senpai last night."

"Ahh... What kind of game?"

"Bel-senpai said I'm not allowed to tell anyone."

"How old are you, Fran?"

"Seven."

"And what's that?" Dino gestured to the small bulge in the blanket.

"My penis. It's hard again."

Dino nodded, knowing that with Bel listening in, he would only get the boy in trouble if he dug too deep – he'd just have to tell Mukuro about what was said and let the younger male deal with it.

Passing Bel in the doorway, Dino stared into the younger's face, an untrusting expression on his face. "I hope you're not up to anything bad, Belphegor..."

"Says the one who willingly slept with someone already in a relationship." Bel shrugged, an unreadable expression on his face. "Mukuro will probably think you're trying to break up his _friend_ship next – you already took away his boyfriend."

"The thought that you could be doing something to that kid..." Dino clenched his hands as he fought to keep his cool – it wouldn't do to start a fight here, "...that'll hurt Mukuro worse than Kyouya and I ever could... It's so wrong, and you _know _it... I didn't think you'd stoop that low..."

Bel just watched the other leave. He waited until he heard the front door close before he turned to glare at Fran. He grinded his teeth together, angry enough with Fran to want to hurt him – but if he did that, it would only add more fuel to the fire.

Instead, the man turned around and left the room, going to find his mink and instead cool down for a few hours so that he could assess the situation properly.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Kyouya, may I borrow your phone?"

The raven-haired man named Kyouya who had once dated Mukuro glanced up from the book he had been reading. "You'd better not be calling the pineapple herbivore back."

"It's actually really important that I do, Kyouya..." Dino didn't want to fight with his lover, but he knew how the younger could get – he hadn't meant to make Kyouya hate Mukuro, but that was what had ruined the two younger's relationships. That, and the fact that Mukuro had been cheated on for several months before he found out the truth from a third party.

"I don't want the herbivore having my number again." Kyouya was calm as he turned the page of his book. "It's bad enough those other herbivores let him call my number with _their _phones – he's probably written it down somewhere."

"He's got a kid now, Kyouya," the blond tried to explain. "A seven-year-old. He's with Belphegor, and... Well, I think Bel might be molesting him..."

"It is not my fault he was left with a paedophile."

"Kyouya!" Dino was horrified by his boyfriend's attitude. "The boy is _seven_! Look, I understand why you don't want to have anything to do with Mukuro anymore, but –"

"If you're that desperate to play the hero, use your own phone. Leave me be."

Dino sighed, knowing that was the only 'permission' to talk to his friend he was going to get.

Nodding, Dino went upstairs into their shared bedroom to talk privately with Mukuro.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Mukuro-san, Dino is looking for you."

Heterochromatic eyes lifted as the younger brunet he was staying with entered the room he shared with his sister. He had been flipping through magazines as he waited for his sister to return from her doctor's appointment.

"Thank you, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro took the phone. "Hello, Dino."

"Mukuro... Are you in a good mood?"

"Not particularly." Mukuro dropped the magazine onto the bed as he stood up and looked out of the window, watching as the trees of the Vongola Estate swayed back and forth in the strong wind.

"Well..." Dino hesitated before he continued, knowing this was something Mukuro _had _to know. "...I checked up on Fran for you, but... Well, umm... to be honest, I think you should come back..."

"Why's that?" Mukuro's eyes glinted dangerously.

"...To be honest, I'm not _completely _sure so please don't panic, but... I think – _think , _not _certain –_ Bel may be molesting Fran..."

Mukuro's breathing stopped as he tightened his grip on his friend's phone. He was still trying to comprehend what had just been said to him. "...You think this why...?"

"...When I went over there, Bel hadn't taken him to school. He said Fran was sick, but that wasn't the case. When I went to see Fran, he didn't seem to be wearing any clothes and he was in Bel's bed. He said he was... he was sore because of the game they were playing..."

"..." Mukuro closed his eyes as he struggled to contain his emotions. How was he supposed to reply to this...? "...Thank you... I'll try and come back as soon as I can. Please do not tell Bel as I want to investigate this myself before I jump to any rash conclusions."

"I'm really sorry I had to be the one to break the news, Mukuro; I wanted Kyouya to tell you, but he was adamant... I'm so very sorry for everything I've done..."

"It's okay..." Mukuro said softly; part of him would never truly forgive Dino or Kyouya for the hurt they put him through, but he knew the blond was sincerely sorry. "...Thank you..."

Mukuro ended the call and handed the phone back to Tsuna, who had stayed by the door. The brunet knew Mukuro was hurting, but he didn't know why or how he could help.

"Mukuro-san...?" Tsuna reached out, putting a hand on Mukuro's shoulders. "Mukuro-san, are you alright?"

The blue-haired man nodded, trying his hardest to hide his emotions. "...I am..."

"You miss Hibari-san, don't you?" Tsuna guided his friend to the bed and sat down with him. He wrapped his arm around frail shoulders as Mukuro nodded.

"I really do..." the older male admitted. "...I miss him, and now I think I was wrong to trust Belphegor with Fran..."

"What happened?" Tsuna asked, knowing not to expect an answer; Mukuro was naturally a private person and hid what he felt – so when the other replied, he couldn't help but feel sick at what he was hearing.

"...I think Belphegor may be molesting Fran... If he is, it's all my fault for leaving him there... I should have prepared better and put him anywhere but with Belphegor..."

"I know it might not help to hear, but you know you were _always _welcome to have brought him up here... Yamamoto would have loved to take care of him for you..."

"If I did that, I would never have been able to pay Squalo back, nor would Fran have been happy... I just... I feel like it's all my fault and that Fran's going to hate me if it's true..."

"Maybe it's _not_ true," Tsuna offered. "Maybe it was all a coincidence. There's nothing you can do about it until you get back to Italy. Look, we'll pay for another flight back there and you can go back and check on Fran. We'll look after Chrome from here, okay? Don't worry about paying Squalo back; we'll reimburse him."

Mukuro nodded, fighting back tears. He wasn't one to cry, but he had been so stressed with caring for his sister and stressing about Fran's safety, he just hadn't been sleeping well at all, and everything was taking a toll on him.

Slender fingers grasped Tsuna's jacket tightly as he buried his face against the younger male's chest. His shoulders heaved with emotion, but the important thing was that he had Tsuna there to look after him.

Sometimes the one who tried their hardest to keep everything together for everyone else was really the one who needed someone to help keep _them _together.


	11. Chapter 11

**To be honest, I've been having a bit of a bad time lately, so this chapter's come out a **_**lot **_**darker than I had originally intended. It's really quite angsty, so apologies if you aren't into that genre; I'll try and tone the rest of the fic down. **

Two days later, Mukuro arrived back in Italy. He had left his car at the airport on his trip up to Japan, having paid the last of his own money to have it kept there for when he came back. The man was absolutely exhausted, and he felt as if he were about to fall asleep any second as he drove out to Belphegor's home, ready to investigate what Dino had told him.

After – narrowly – avoiding quite a few accidents due to his sleep deprivation, Mukuro finally arrived out the front of his friend's house. He parked the car against the curb, keeping out of view of the living room window – if Bel saw he had arrived, he would have a chance to cover his tracks, after all.

Mukuro knew that Bel didn't lock the backdoor to his home; the blond was convinced that no one would come in through the backdoor seeing as he had a padlock on the gate leading in to the backyard – the only issue was, Mukuro knew how to get around the padlock.

It was lucky the neighbours didn't own a dog as the blue-haired man had to use their yard to climb over the fence; their side of the fence held ledges that were easy enough to climb – it took mere seconds to have climbed the fence and arrived at the backdoor.

_Just have to be as quiet as I can... _Mukuro took a deep breath as he opened the door, glad that it didn't squeak. _Can't let him know I'm here..._

The younger adult was happy to see that at least _one _of his rules had been followed; the house was relatively clean compared to its usual trashed appearance. It was just a shame the man hadn't respected his friend enough to obey _all _the rules – namely, don't corrupt my little one.

There was no one in the kitchen or the adjoining dining room, Mukuro noticed. He wondered if the two were perhaps in the living room, but that, too, was proved incorrect as it was void of all life.

_Bathroom...? _Mukuro started moving to the hallway where the smaller rooms branched off, only to still as he heard Fran scream in pain.

The young man didn't care that he was running towards the master bedroom loud enough for his presence to be heard – all that mattered was something was going on and, so far, it sounded as if Dino had been right all along.

The door to Bel's bedroom was open, and when Mukuro finally stood in the doorway, he was too horrified by what he saw to be able to speak, much less move and stop what was happening.

On the bed, Fran laid beneath Bel, his face scrunched up in pain as his tiny fingers dug into the blond's shoulders. He was being rocked violently along the mattress as Bel thrust in and out of him at a rough pace, and from where Mukuro was standing, there was no doubt in his mind that his beloved charge was being raped.

"Get the fuck off him!" Mukuro roared as he finally found the strength to move forward and shove Bel from the bed. He winced as Fran screamed again, his insides having been torn open by the careless exit.

"M-master...!" Fran curled into a ball as he cried, not understanding what was going on – he could see that Mukuro was angry, but at _whom_? Was he going to be in trouble for playing this game? Was he really going to be taken away from Mukuro forever because someone found out?

Bel, who had taken a few seconds to realise that his best friend had just gotten into his house and caught him in the act, panicked. He jumped to his feet, moving to grab Fran from the bed before Mukuro could.

"It wasn't what it looked like! Honest!" Bel tried to explain – the honest truth was that Fran had agreed to this once again, so it wasn't as if he had _forced_ the boy into it!

"What _were _you doing, then?" Mukuro snarled as he stepped closer, reaching out for Fran. "Playing _doctor? _Because from where I'm standing, it looked as if you were _raping _him!"

"It wasn't!" Bel protested, taking a step back so that he backed into the wall behind him – if he could hold Fran hostage, he knew Mukuro wouldn't hurt him. "I _asked _him if I could do it and he said yes!"

"Don't _lie _to me, Belphegor!" Mukuro spat. "Give him to me!"

Fran trembled as he curled in closer to Bel, terrified by what was going on; his body was aching and he just wanted to go home.

Bel was helpless as the youngest was pulled from his arms – he knew he'd be lucky if he got out of this without the cops being called on him, considering it was _Mukuro's _kid he had done it to; while the two were best friends, Mukuro wouldn't give that a second thought, wanting only for Fran to be safe.

Mukuro ignored the older male calling after him as he walked through the house and towards the front door. He shifted Fran into one arm as he opened it, storming out to his car. He was aware of some of the neighbours being out in their yards, a few people on morning jogs passing by – it was no surprise all of them turned and stared as Mukuro carried out a naked and bleeding boy who was in hysterics.

"Mukuro, wait!" Bel wanted desperately to explain himself, hoping that if Mukuro understood it had all been consensual, the younger would forgive him – it was a long shot, but he could only hope. "Mukuro!"

Mukuro didn't turn around again until he had carefully placed Fran in the front seat of his car and wrapped his jacket around the shivering boy. He wanted to hurt Bel, to make him suffer and feel the same kind of pain he was _sure _Fran was feeling, but instead he settled for spitting out, "Get his belongings _now_."

Bel bit his lip as he ignored this, trying again to calm his friend. "Mukuro I –"

"-Get his belongings!" Mukuro shouted as he took a step forward, shoving at the smaller male. "Get them so we can go home!"

Bel was silent for a few seconds before he nodded, knowing he had caused enough trouble as it was. He disappeared back into the house, presumably doing as ordered.

Some of the neighbours had come closer, obviously concerned by what was happening. One or two of them had grabbed their phones, and Mukuro feared them calling the police – while he knew he _had _to take this to the police, he didn't want it done so soon, not until Fran could have a chance to calm down about this.

"If you're calling the police, please do not worry about it," Mukuro called out to them, forcing a calm tone in his otherwise shaking voice. "I'm going to take him to the hospital and then go from there myself."

The onlookers nodded as he quickly ended the call, settling instead for watching.

"M-master..." Fran had tears running down his cheeks as he reached out with a tiny hand, gripping the white button-up shirt his guardian wore.

"What is it, little one...?" Mukuro knelt by the car, reaching out to pat teal hair in a soothing manner.

"I-it hurts..." The boy winced as pain shot up his spine, tears falling harder.

"I know..." Mukuro leant forward, kissing the boy's forehead. "We're going to go to the hospital as soon as we leave here and get you fixed up. Okay?"

Fran nodded, knowing he could trust the man.

Mukuro just glared as his once-best friend walked back out of the house, carrying Fran's bag in his arms. His pet mink had curled up around his shoulders, seemingly content as it was taken towards the car.

The blue-haired man snatched the bag from the older male before he placed it in the backseat of the car.

"You are _not _to go near Fran ever again, Belphegor," Mukuro growled as he slammed the back door closed. "Do not _ever _talk to me again – if you so much as come near my house or us in public, I will not hesitate to call the police and tell them what you've done."

The younger adult spared no further words to the blond as he pulled his keys from his pocket and instead moved to the driver's seat.

Bel stood by the curb as he watched with a frown, not knowing what to expect – what was going to happen from here on in?

Most of the onlookers standing on the road had moved away, giving Mukuro room to drive as well as avoid the car coming towards them. Bel just stared after his friend, lost in thoughts. He snapped back to reality only when he felt his pet jump from his shoulders, finding the furry white creature running across the road to chase one of the neighbourhood cats.

"Mink!" Bel shouted, trying to move forward and catch the animal, but it was too late; the onlookers gasped and cried out as they witnessed the small animal go under the wheels of the car that had been travelling towards the commotion, a horrid screech filling the air.

Brakes were slammed as Mink shrieked in pain, flung out by the back wheels. The crowd had no idea what to do as they watched Bel running towards the animal, gathering the twitching, broken creature into strong arms.

"Mink...!" Bel hugged his pet to his chest, his mind in a blur; he knew it was too late to do anything for his beloved mink, and the last thing he cared about was the blood that was quickly saturating his own clothing – all that mattered was his pet was about to die. "Fuck...! Mink...! No!"

Tears leaked down the blond's face as the driver of the vehicle ran towards him. He couldn't find the strength to take in anything anyone was saying; the only thing he could think about was the fact that in less than ten minutes, he had just lost _both _of the only friends he had in this world.

"Mink!" Bel screamed, unable to even get off the road; he felt as if his chest was tearing and his head about to explode. "No!"

No one knew what to do; they could only watch as the man sat on the side of the road, crying as he hugged his pet.

_**~~XX~~**_

After a visit to the hospital where the nurses ran a rape kit, took evidence, and then cleaned the boy up, Mukuro took him home so that he could heal. While Fran was resting out in the living room so that he could watch the TV, Mukuro had curled up in his own bedroom, needing to have a sleep himself; he was feeling so down with everything that had happened, he didn't have any motivation for anything.

Mukuro was just about asleep before he was jerked back into reality by Fran's voice, seemingly close by.

"Master...?"

Looking towards the doorway, Mukuro sighed as he found the boy standing in the doorway, looking sad. Sitting up, the adult made room on the bed for his charge.

"You're supposed to be resting..." Mukuro couldn't find it in him to be stern with Fran; the boy had been put through enough. "What are you doing up?"

"Master, my frog is still at senpai's house..." Fran curled up against his guardian, looking up with sad teal eyes. "Can we go get him...?"

Mukuro patted soft hair, wishing he could say yes – but even to get back Fran's precious toy, he didn't want to go back to Bel's house.

Instead, the man soothed, "I'll buy you another one, alright?"

"But that one was special..." Fran buried his face in the strong chest. "Please?"

"Little one..." Mukuro closed his eyes as he let out a breath. "...Little one, this is not a good time... Please, go back to the couch and rest... I need some alone time..."

Fran nodded in understanding. "Sorry, Master..."

"It's okay, little one."

Mukuro knew he was being stupid – he had reacted in the same manner he was now after his breakup with Hibari. For days he had refused to get out of bed and neglected himself as he wallowed in depression, and he had only gotten out of it because Bel had been there to snap him out of it.

But this... This was _worse _than the breakup. _This _made Mukuro feel as if he had failed a _human being _for having been the one to leave Fran there. He felt as if this was all his fault, as if he hadn't cared enough to find somewhere _else _for Fran to stay. He knew he should have taken the boy up to Japan with him, but he had declined in fear of forever being in debt to Squalo, worried that amongst everything _else _he had to pay off, he would only bury himself deeper.

Part of Mukuro feared Fran would hate him for what he had subjected the younger to, like Fran would never trust him again. As much as he _tried _to reason with himself, he just couldn't talk himself out of the idea that if anything went wrong with the way Fran grew up, it would be _his _fault now.

Mukuro wished he was as strong as people gave him credit for – no matter how prideful he held himself, he considered himself one of the weakest people he knew who hid behind a playful smile and kind words.

Maybe his own reason for being weak was having shouldered everyone _else's _problems, trying to fix them and shoving his own to the back of his mind.

Yes, that must be it; Mukuro's downfall was that he was just _too _kind, and he had no one there for him the way he tried to be there for everyone else.

_**~~XX~~**_

After eventually having calmed down enough to be guided back to his own home, Bel had immediately taken the corpse of his best friend out to the backyard. He had spent hours digging a grave for the little animal, and even longer sitting by its side, mourning.

When Bel had at last gone back inside, the first thing he saw was that stupid frog Fran owned, sitting on the couch and staring at him with lifeless eyes.

The blond sniffed as he grabbed the teddy by the arm and carried it into the kitchen. His hand trembled as he grabbed a knife from the cutlery drawer and went to work on cutting the teddy into as pieces as small as he could manage until nothing was left of it.

It wasn't that Bel blamed Fran for this – he had known all along what he was doing and how wrong it was – it was just that he couldn't _stand _that stupid thing reminding him of how far he had fallen in regards to his feelings towards the boy. The man who had been known as Prince the Ripper during high school didn't _have _feelings or cared for anything – he lived his life fooling around and using others for his own guilty pleasures.

So why was a stupid _kid _the first person he had _really _felt an attraction to? Was that why it hurt so much knowing Fran had been taken away from him? To be honest, he didn't know what loss hurt him more; Mukuro's, Mink's, or Fran's.

Whatever the answer was, Bel knew he wasn't going to have an easy night.


	12. Chapter 12

"Care to explain this?"

Bel blinked as he regarded the phone that had just been shoved in his face. It had been three days since the incident, and in that time, the blond had tried his hardest to get Mukuro to talk to him by sending texts asking if he may explain himself. They had never been answered, but apparently Mukuro had taken the issue to Squalo and Xanxus.

Bel took the phone, reading a message that had been sent from Mukuro's number. _I didn't want to drag you into this, so my apologies, but I'm changing my number as Belphegor will not listen to me when I told him to never contact me again. Please kindly tell him to leave us alone as I want nothing more to do with him. _

"So." Squalo had made himself comfortable on Bel's couch, Xanxus next to him. The two were wearing their work uniform, having finished their morning shift. "Tell us what's going on."

Bel just shrugged, not wanting them to know what he had been doing – he had already lost everyone else, and he couldn't bear it if he lost _them, _too. "It's nothing important..."

"Brat, your _best friend _sent this to us!" Squalo roared. "It's _not_ nothing important! Now _tell _us!"

"We had a fight," Bel tried to cover. "That's all."

"The pineapple trash _doesn't _fight," Xanxus inputted. "What did you do to make him so angry?"

"Why are you assuming it's _my _fault?!" The blond male argued back. "What if it _wasn't _my fault?!"

"We _know _it's your fault because of your fucking personality and the context of this text, so fess up or we'll beat it the fuck out of you!"

"Great parenting." Obscured eyes rolled as he stood up, leaving the room. "I'm not saying anything because there _is _nothing to tell."

"Get the fuck back here, trash!" Xanxus roared; as aggressive as he and Squalo could be towards the younger male, they had loved and cared for him for eighteen years – there was no way they were going to sit back when something had clearly gone wrong for the younger.

"Leave me alone!" Bel shouted back, slamming one of the doors in the hallway.

Squalo stood up from the couch, his lover close behind him. The two followed the youngest down to Bel's bedroom, finding it had been locked from the inside.

"Fuck it." Xanxus – who was _far _from the mood to deal with this shit – kicked the door down in one fell swoop, finding the blond curled up in the bed.

"Belphegor, _talk _to us," Squalo demanded. "_Tell _us what's wrong so we can _help_. Look – maybe we're _not _the best parent figures you could have had, but –"

"I don't need you," Bel spat. The truth was, he _loved _both of his foster parents, but he was in so much pain right now, he couldn't help but lash out. "I don't need your help."

Xanxus stepped forward. He grabbed blond locks, pulling the young man's face up to look at him. "Well, that's too bad, trash – _we're _all you've _ever _had."

"That's fucking right!" Squalo added in. "We're the only family you've got, and you'd better fucking respect that!"

Bel just glared at them with a frown on his face. He shrugged Xanxus away from him before he grabbed the blankets and pulled them over his skinny body, his back to the older two.

"Leave me alone..." Bel muttered, too tired to argue anymore; he was exhausted from everything that had happened, and he didn't want to fight – not with these two. _Never _his foster parents. "...Mink just died... I don't need this..."

Squalo's eyes softened as he turned to look at Xanxus. He bit his lip before he moved forward, pulling Bel into a tight hug.

"Why didn't you tell us that in the first place?" Squalo sighed as he threaded clothed fingers through the younger's locks. "...Shit... I'm really sorry, Belphegor..."

Xanxus moved away from the two, having never been one for affection; it made him uncomfortable to see the way the two clung to each other.

While it was clear Bel wasn't going to start opening up to them any time soon, Xanxus instead left to raid the kitchen, wondering if by chance the blond had a steak or two lying around somewhere.

Xanxus swore he didn't get laid enough for this shit.

_**~~XX~~**_

"Master, there are two men at the door looking for you."

Mukuro lifted his head from the pillow, blinking away sleep. He pushed himself into a sitting position, regarding Fran with worried eyes. "Why did you open the door to strangers, little one? You should have come and got me."

"I did – I just let them into the house first." Fran looked so innocent, it was hard to tell if he was being snarky or not in this moment.

Mukuro tensed before he threw the blankets from his body. He got to his feet, hurrying out of the room and down the hall, greatly concerned about who the boy could have let in. To his immense relief, however, he soon relaxed as he found Squalo and Xanxus sitting in the living room.

"He's a cute kid, but I think you should have a talk with him about inviting strangers into your home." Squalo shrugged as he pointed to Fran, the boy having trailed behind Mukuro. "Next time he mightn't be so lucky."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Mukuro may still be furious with Bel, but he wasn't the kind of person to take it out on others who weren't involved with what had happened.

"We just came from the shithead's house," Squalo explained. "We tried asking him what he had done wrong, but he wouldn't say anything. We're just trying to sort it out and make sure everyone's okay."

Mukuro tensed, not sure how to reply to this – what kind of parent – foster or biological aside – would want to hear that their child was a paedophile? "...I don't feel comfortable explaining it. I am sorry."

"It didn't have anything to do with Mink, did it?" the silver-haired man questioned.

"Mink?" Heterochromatic eyes took on a confused look; what on _Earth _could their fight have to do with Mink? "What about him?"

"Bel said he died."

"Oh..." The blue-haired man truly felt bad for hearing this. "...I _am _sorry... But I have no idea what could have happened."

"I get that you're not comfortable, but could you tell us?" Squalo didn't want to sound pushy, but he was worried about Bel; it wasn't like the younger man to be as withdrawn and depressed as he seemed to have become. "Something's really wrong with him."

"I agree," Mukuro stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "More so than you'd have realised."

"What the _fuck _did he _do_?!" Xanxus growled, irritated beyond belief. "Spit it out!"

"Is this about Bel-senpai?" Fran moved past Mukuro so that he could sit on the floor in front of the couch, looking up at the two newcomers.

"No." Mukuro had only wanted to protect Fran, hoping the boy would eventually get bored and wander away from the conversation, so when two affirmations were spoken over his guardian's voice, Fran became confused.

"Is it or not?" Teal eyes just blinked up at Mukuro.

"Little one... Leave the room, please."

Fran got up to do as told, only to stop and turn to look at Squalo next as the man spoke to him.

"Do _you _know why they're fighting?" The silver-haired male asked. He knew it was wrong to have involved the boy in this, but they weren't going to get answers any other way.

"Huh?" Fran looked between the three adults before he nodded, thinking he understood what they were talking about now. "I think so."

"Don't tell them," Mukuro tried to demand, not wanting Bel's acts known by anyone else – he knew Squalo and Xanxus had the right to know more than _anyone, _but he didn't want to be the one to break their hearts – or worse, break their relationship with the blond.

Bel would surely suffer enough without Mukuro and Mink by his side; he didn't need to lose his two foster parents.

"Don't tell them what?" Fran asked, truly not understanding what had been asked of him. "About our game?"

Xanxus clicked on at this. "Trash, what 'game' did you play with him?"

Fran looked at the dark-haired man. He knew Bel had told him not to tell anyone, but _Mukuro _knew, so surely it wouldn't matter anymore if anyone else found out? "We got naked and touched each other, and then Bel-senpai would put himself inside me."

All three adults were horrified by these words. Squalo looked as if he were ready to slaughter someone, and though it wasn't visible on the outside, Xanxus was in turmoil – he hadn't raised Belphegor to become _that _kind of person, so why the _fuck _did this happen?

Dropping to his knees, Squalo left the couch as he engulfed Fran in a tight hug. He didn't let the boy go for a few minutes until he looked up at Mukuro and said, "I am _so _sorry – I had _no fucking idea _he'd do that!"

"It wasn't _your _fault, Squalo – you didn't know..."

"I'm going to kick his ass!" Xanxus growled to himself as he stood up. He grabbed hold of long silver tresses, dragging his lover from the boy and over to the front door. "Let's go, shark trash!"

"Wait!" Fran ran back to the newcomers, wrapping his frail arms around Squalo's middle. He wouldn't let go, even as Mukuro tried to pry him away. "If you're going back to Bel-senpai's home, can you bring back my frog? I accidentally left him there when Master brought me back."

"Oh, sure," Squalo promised. He reached out to pat teal hair in a reassuring manner. "We'll bring it back for – goddamnit, Xanxus, let go of my fucking hair!"

"Come away, little one." Mukuro picked the boy up, cradling him in a tender hold. "Leave them be."

Fran nodded. He watched as the two shouted at each other some more before they disappeared out of the front door, leaving Mukuro and Fran behind.

Fran didn't know why it hurt him to know that, as soon as his guardian had calmed him down, Mukuro had gone straight back to bed.

_**~~XX~~**_

_Bel doesn't have the frog anymore. He said it made him angry so he wrecked it. We've sorted it out on his end and he knows not to do anything like it ever again now. _

Mukuro blinked as he read Squalo's text. His fingers hovered over the keypad of his phone, unsure of what to type back. He knew Squalo had only been doing what he believed was right, but he really hadn't wanted the older man to get involved in this.

Before the man could reply, another text came through.

_It's probably none of my business, but why was Fran not at school? It's not like you to keep him home. If you're feeling like shit, I don't mind picking him up and taking him to and from school. Just don't let yourself become depressed again. Let us know if we can help. _

Disregarding the first text, Mukuro instead replied to the last one. _I'm going back to work tomorrow. Thank you for the offer; I'll let you know when I need to take you up on it. _

Throwing his phone away, Mukuro sighed as he rolled onto his side, nestling further beneath his blankets. He wasn't looking forward to going back to work, but he desperately needed the money if he still wanted a roof over his head.


	13. Chapter 13

"It's not like you to have suddenly disappeared and not even let me know you weren't going to show up for work." Daemon's light-coloured eyes regarded his employee with amusement, a smirk on his face. "May I ask what was so important, you risked being fired?"

Mukuro shrugged as he swept behind the registers, wishing the store would hurry up and open – if there were customers around, he may finally have peace from his boss' cruel nature. "Family emergency."

"Did someone die? You're looking very depressed today." Daemon's smirk grew wider at these words, as if he found the idea funny.

"No one died. I'm sorry, but I'm not divulging any details; it's between me and my sister."

"Nufufu~" Daemon put down the money he had been counting onto the register, his fingers instead twitching as they were directed to soft blue locks of hair. "You can trust me, Muku-chan~ Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Please do not touch me." Mukuro tensed as he pulled away from the older male's hand. "It makes me uncomfortable."

Daemon didn't relent; he instead stepped close enough so that he backed the smaller male against the wall, pressing one hand by the younger's head to block Mukuro's escape. "You know, you skipped out on quite a lot of shifts. If you give in to me, I'll pay for you the ones you missed."

Mukuro glanced to the side. He was tempted to take the offer, needing the money, but was it really worth lowering himself to no more than a prostitute...? He was feeling bad – of _course _he was! – but did he really need to let his self-worth fall anymore than it already had...?

"It won't take long; I'll even let you go home for the day and pay you for this shift." Daemon's face was so close to the younger's, Mukuro could feel hot breath against his face.

"...It'll be quick...?" Mukuro was too tired to argue, nor did he see the point in resisting any longer; Daemon wasn't going to leave him alone, so he may as well just get it over with.

The stronger male nodded as he moved his hips against Mukuro's. "It will."

With a sigh, the smaller male resigned himself to his fate. He hated how his body reacted so positively to the man's touch, but what he hated the most was when he found himself climaxing not just once, but thrice.

At least now he could go home and shower until he felt as if he had washed away every last molecule of filth on his body.

_**~~XX~~**_

While Fran was at school, Mukuro had curled up on the living room couch after his shower. The house was silent, not a thing out of place, and just when Mukuro was about to fall asleep once again, he was disturbed by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Reluctantly, Mukuro got to his feet and answered it.

"Tsunayoshi...?" To the man's immense surprise, the brunet he had last seen in Japan was standing on his doorstep, brown eyes softer than ever.

"Squalo told me what had happened, and that you've been depressed." Tsuna fidgeted uncomfortably, the cold air chilly. "I thought I'd drop by and see if I could help – you've always been there for us."

Mukuro nodded as he stepped back from the doorway, letting the younger male have entrance. "Much appreciated."

It was no surprise Squalo had said something to Tsuna; while Squalo's company, Varia, branched off from the main one ran by Tsuna, they had eventually become comfortable enough with each other for this amount of trust to take hold – and while Squalo wasn't the best person to come to if someone had problems, he had at least cared enough to try and get _someone _to help.

Tsuna looked around the house as he followed his host into the living room. The first thing he had noticed was the absence of Mukurowl, something he had never thought would happen – Mukuro loved that bird more than anything else in his life.

"Where's Mukurowl?" Tsuna questioned, wary of treading on a conversation he wasn't meant to have.

"...I put him with a new family..." Mukuro sounded heartbroken at these words, and they caught Tsuna so off-guard, the brunet couldn't help but gasp.

"B-but...! He's an _owl! _You can't just give them away!" Tsuna knew he probably wasn't being much help at the moment, but he was greatly concerned about what was happening for his friend – the Mukuro he knew would _never _even _consider _giving his pet away. "Why...?"

"Because every time I looked at him, it made me remember just how much I miss Kyouya..." Mukuro admitted.

"Mukuro-san..." Tsuna wasn't sure if he'd be able to help very much, but he knew he'd have to try; Mukuro was his friend, and he wasn't the kind of person to sit back and let his friends hurt.

The first thing Tsuna knew he had to do was find Mukurowl and get him back – the blue-haired male would never be able to cope without the owl.

_**~~XX~~**_

Fran was confused as to why a brunet he had never seen before was the one waiting outside his classroom when school finished for the day, but even so, he didn't hesitate getting into the car with whom he had dubbed as 'Tuna-Fish' after hearing that the other male's name was Tsuna.

Once the brunet had pulled the car away from the curb, heading back to Mukuro's home, Fran spoke curiously. "How come Tuna-Fish is picking me up? Why didn't Master get me?"

"Mukuro-san is having a bit of a rough time, so he's not feeling up to it," Tsuna explained gently. "You've got to be good for him until he feels better, okay?"

"Is he sick? He looks very sick to me; Master always seems to be sad lately." Fran nodded at his own words, frowning.

"He _is _sick, but it's not a sickness you can see, Fran; it's a sickness of the heart."

"Like how I felt when my family left?" Though the boy didn't cry, Tsuna could see the younger was still hurting over the deaths of his family.

Tsuna nodded. "That's right. He just needs a bit of love and support."

"Master doesn't play with me anymore..." Fran hugged his schoolbag tightly to his chest. "He only comes out of his room to make me food..."

"Are you feeling lonely?" The Japanese male frowned as Fran nodded. He couldn't be mad at Mukuro, knowing it wasn't his fault, but it was still really unfair to _Fran _for Mukuro to take it out on him by keeping himself cooped up in bed. "Well, I'll talk to Mukuro-san and try and encourage him to play with you again. Alright?"

The corners of Fran's lips lifted at these words as he nodded. "Will Tuna play with me, too?"

"Sure." Tsuna smiled at the boy as he nodded. "What do you like playing?"

"Master says I play really well by myself because I like playing everything, even if I don't have toys." Fran slowly started to smile more naturally at the mention of his guardian. "I like to play outside with my water squirters and chase things."

Tsuna laughed. "Okay. We'll find something for us to do when we get back to Mukuro-san's."

Fran nodded, excited to have someone new to play with; he always felt as if Mukuro didn't love him anymore whenever the man said he wasn't in the mood to play with him lately. Hopefully Tsuna could fix it and he could be with Mukuro again like he had been before things had changed.

_**~~XX~~**_

"That's thirty dollars, thank you."

Belphegor pulled his wallet out from his pocket, withdrawing one of his many credit cards. He waved it in front of the cashier's view, a silent gesture as to his method of payment.

"Swipe when you're ready."

Bel quickly finished the transaction before he grabbed the frog teddy waiting on the register for him. He ignored the cashier telling him to have a good day, instead moving to stand with Squalo and Xanxus by the exit of the store, clutching the teddy close to him.

"You're doing the right thing, Bel." Squalo patted blond hair affectionately before he checked the time on his watch. "How are you going to give it back to Fran? Are you going to tell him what you did to his last one?"

Bel shook his head. "He doesn't need to know that... He'll just think it's the one Mukuro bought for him. But... I don't know _how _to do this... Mukuro hates me, and he threatened to call the cops on me..."

"Go see him at work," Xanxus suggested. "He wouldn't dare cause a scene there."

"Give it a few days, first," the silver-haired male suggested. "Give him some more time to calm down. I think the Vongola brat is over there now."

"Okay... Do you think he'll ever forgive me...?"

"Honestly?" Squalo shook his head. "I'd be surprised if he _didn't _hate you. He might not ever get over it because you really _did _hurt him – he trusted you with Fran and you fucked them both over – literally. Just... Don't get your hopes up."

"Yeah... Can we go back now, Squ-Squ...?"

Squalo nodded. He reached out, patting the younger male's shoulder before he turned and left the store. He hoped things would eventually work out between the younger males, but he doubted it – if someone they trusted had sexually abused _Bel_ when he was younger, Squalo would have torn their dicks off and made them suffer a slow, agonising death.

In fact, if it had been anyone _but _Bel who had done that to Fran, Squalo would have already done that by now. Squalo was sure Belphegor truly had no idea just how much he and Xanxus loved their foster child.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm not sure if you guys have noticed, but lately I've been updating only one-to-three chapters a day instead of more as I usually do, and that some of the chapters aren't as well written as they tend to be. For the past couple of weeks, I've been having very bad sleep which has impacted on a lot of aspects. I couldn't get in to see my doctor for another two weeks, so I've made an appointment with a different one for tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll get my sleep back under control and I can keep updating and writing to the best of my ability. **

Within the few days that had passed, Fran truly didn't understand why every time he had asked to go and visit Bel, he was always told no. He didn't know why their game had made things change so vastly, and he had a feeling it was his fault things were different now.

It was Saturday, and Fran had just woken up from his sleep to Tsuna shaking him awake, saying it was time for breakfast. The boy was unwilling to get out of bed, but he did so anyway – Tsuna was worried he was learning bad habits from Mukuro as Fran had also been getting into bed more and more.

By the time Fran arrived out in the dining room, he witnessed Tsuna placing two bowls down on the table, waiting patiently for the boy to come out. Mukuro was nowhere in sight, and Fran wondered if he was going to be in bed all day again.

"Is Master going to have breakfast with us...?" Fran wasn't feeling very hungry, feeling hurt by Mukuro's distance.

"I was talking to him before I woke you up." Tsuna smiled as he took a third bowl over to the table, sitting down beside the boy. "He got called into work, so he's getting ready. He should eat with us before he leaves."

"Oya oya, talking about me behind my back, are you?"

Fran smiled as he heard his guardian's voice behind him. Mukuro was sounding happier this morning, and in turn it made him happier as well. "Is Master going to eat with us today?"

Mukuro nodded as he took the spare seat on the other side of Fran. He pulled the bowl close to him, not entirely hungry, but knowing he had to try and be strong for the boy – Tsuna had told him about how Fran was starting to copy him in regards to sleeping all day.

"I'm going to be working, but Tsunayoshi is going to look after you." Mukuro patted teal hair as he sent a warm gaze to his younger friend. "Tsunayoshi said he'd take you to see a movie."

"What movie?" Fran watched as Mukuro pulled his phone from his pocket and typed something in, giving it to him a minute later. On the phone was a listing of the movies currently being shown, and Fran couldn't help but point to the second one. "Can I see this one, Master?"

Heterochromatic eyes widened in surprise as they noticed what Fran had picked. Mukuro shook his head, looking to the side uncomfortably. "No, little one... That movie is rated R."

"...?" Fran tilted his head, not understanding what that had to do with anything; it looked good to him, so why was Mukuro saying no?

"It's, uhh... only for adults. Sorry, but you'll have to see something else."

"Oh..."

After a few minutes of Fran picking anything but the kids movies, he had eventually been talked into seeing one aimed at his own age group. He wasn't particularly happy with the choice, but it would do; it was still a movie, and it would get him out of the house for a while.

Fran still wished Mukuro could come with them, though.

_**~~XX~~**_

"How come Master is always in bed?" Fran scratched at his arm as he stood in line with Tsuna at the cinema. "Why doesn't he come out of it anymore?"

Tsuna knew it would be difficult explaining depression to a seven-year-old, but he also knew the boy needed to know that whatever Mukuro was doing lately was _neither _of their faults. "Mukuro-san is... feeling really bad lately. It's hard for him to be able to get out of bed because he can't really find motivation for anything."

"But..." Fran frowned as he moved his feet, filling in the space that had just been made between them and the person in front of them, "...I don't understand... How come Master can stay in bed all day but I'm not allowed...? I... I'm feeling bad... I miss Master... And Bel-senpai, too... I don't understand..."

The brunet sighed as he reached down, picking Fran up into his arms. He held the boy close to him, rubbing the younger's back gently. "I know... You'll understand when you're older, but for now, please don't copy Mukuro-san... It'll only make things harder for you..."

Fran buried his face in against Tsuna's chest as he nodded, knowing that if Mukuro trusted Tsuna, he should, too.

_**~~XX~~**_

If Bel had ever thought he'd be so lonely, it _hurt, _it wasn't because he thought he would have lost both Mukuro and Mink – but here he was, curled up on his couch as he stared at the frog teddy he had bought as a replacement for Fran. He wanted so badly to go and see Mukuro, but he was afraid; maybe he was being selfish, but he _really _didn't want anyone to know what he'd done – or worse; wind up in jail.

Having confessed his fears to Squalo, the man had encouraged him to go and see Mukuro at work and at least _try _and explain what had happened – it would be a start in a long and difficult process, after all.

Finally deciding that Bel didn't like the silence of his home any longer, the man sat up and grabbed the frog that sat on the coffee table, moving to the kitchen to find his car keys. He was hesitant to get in the car but, eventually, he found himself driving towards Mukuro's work, hoping the younger was working today.

_**~~XX~~**_

Finding a park outside of the small store wasn't all that hard considering the street it was in wasn't usually all that busy. Bel grabbed the frog as he got out of the car, making sure the vehicle was locked before he approached the store.

The bell chimed as the blond pushed the door open, but no one came out to greet him; it made Bel curious as to what Mukuro or Daemon could be doing that was so important, they were ignoring customers – Mukuro worked his ass off, and it was very unlike him to be slacking off.

"Mukuro...?" Bel frowned as he slipped his keys into his pocket, moving towards the register tucked away towards the back corner. No one answered him, and he considered walking around the registers and poking his head out into the storeroom to see who was out there.

"Ah..."

Bel tensed as a sound wafted through the partially-closed door of the storeroom. He recognised it as Mukuro's voice, a sound the blue-haired male only ever made when he was being pleasured.

Greatly concerned as to what was happening, Bel jumped the counter. He pushed open the back door, finding both of the workers pressed up against one of the pallets of stock, both with their pants unzipped and pushed down, and the older male's hands up Mukuro's shirt. Bel knew his friend well enough to know that Mukuro rarely ever disliked sex or felt uncomfortable during, so this had to have been either somewhat forced, or the younger really was feeling worse than he had realised – the blue-haired male was frowning, his eyes dull and staring off to the side. He was fidgeting beneath the touches, tense and clearly struggling to hold himself there instead of running away.

Bel did the first thing that came as natural instinct to him; he dropped the frog and ran forward, snarling as he put all of his weight into knocking Daemon away from his friend. Mukuro cried out in pain at the violent exit, but he showed no other signs of distress; he merely held himself against the pallet, panting as he bit his lip and glared at the two older males.

"What are you doing, Belphegor...?" Mukuro honestly didn't know what to think in this moment – one second he was being coaxed into sex by his boss, the next his ex-best friend had just jumped said boss despite having threats of police made against him.

Bel regarded the taller male on the floor with a frown before he turned to Mukuro. He didn't speak as he turned his back to Daemon, instead approaching his friend. He ignored the whimper Mukuro made as the taller male was scooped up into the blond's arms, putting his attention back onto Daemon once he made sure the younger was comfortable in his arms.

"Erase the camera footage if you want, but they can always run a rape kit," the blond threatened. He carefully twisted a hand and patted at Mukuro's pockets, glad to feel the man had his possessions on him already. "I'm taking him home."

Daemon didn't speak as he watched the blond man pick up a toy from the ground; he instead just glared as the two left the storeroom. He wasn't one to give up so easily, but there was no point in fighting now – if the cops _were _called, it would only add up more evidence _against _him otherwise.

At least for the moment – even if the two _did _claim rape – Daemon had video footage of his employee consenting and not struggling in the least.

_**~~XX~~**_

During the car ride back to Mukuro's home, neither of the two had spoken a single word. Mukuro had merely held the teddy Bel had bought, lost in his thoughts. Bel was worried that any second now his friend was going to snap at him, treat him like shit for the things he had done, and it _scared _him – he had learnt what it was like to be alone, and he didn't want that.

No one said anything until Bel had stopped the car in Mukuro's driveway. He was the first to get out and, surprising them _both, _was gentle as he helped the younger out; Bel was such a rough, forceful person, one didn't think he was capable of gentleness.

Mukuro staggered into the house, looking dazed. The teddy was still clutched tightly in his arms, and Bel followed behind hesitantly. The blond was surprised when his friend held the door open for him, closing it quietly once they were both inside; he had been expecting the door to be slammed in his face in all honesty.

Without a word, Mukuro started walking towards his bedroom, only to be intercepted by Tsuna, who was looking greatly confused about what was going on.

"Mukuro-san...?" Tsuna looked between the two older males, stepping back at the uncertainty of the situation; Mukuro – though usually a very docile person – could have one hell of a temper that rivalled Bel's when he was angry. "B-belphegor...?"

Fran, who seemed to have heard Bel's name being mentioned, came tumbling into the room. He tripped over his own feet before falling to the ground, only to quickly spring back up and run towards Bel at the sight of the blond. Tiny arms wrapped around the man's waist as the boy buried his face in against a striped shirt.

"Bel-senpai!" Fran's little fingers dug into the purple stripes as he smiled brighter than he had since the incident. "Bel-senpai, I missed – M-master...?"

Fran didn't understand why he had been pried away from the man by Mukuro; he instead frowned as he was carried away from the blond he had missed so much, wishing _someone _would tell him what was going on, and why everything had changed.

"Master..." Fran dropped his head in sadness, hating to feel as if it was _his _fault nothing was the same anymore. "...Master, I can't... Why are things different now...?"

"Because my trust in Belphegor was misplaced, and now I can't handle the guilt," Mukuro finally admitted. He knew Fran would understand; the boy was much smarter than he would let on. "I shouldn't... I messed up, and it's all my fault..."

"Master, you didn't do anything wrong..." Fran wrapped his arms around Mukuro's neck. He looked down as he felt soft material rub against his stomach, only to smile brightly as he realised his guardian had hold of his beloved teddy. "You got him back. Thank you, Master. I love you."

Mukuro tensed at the boy's words, only to pat soft hair as he forced a smile onto his face. "I love you, too, little one."

Bel and Tsuna looked at each other, having heard what the two were saying to each other. The brunet didn't know what had happened for Bel to have brought Mukuro home from work, but he could only imagine it wasn't something nice.

"What's going on...?" Tsuna questioned, worried for his friend's wellbeing.

"His boss was raping him," Bel admitted. He growled those words out, making himself angry at the thought of someone hurting his best friend. "I'm going to slit that prick's throat..."

"Belphegor, that's something we need to encourage him to report – don't do anything rash or you'll only make it look bad for Mukuro-san," Tsuna advised. He often wondered if Belphegor was naturally a violent person or if it had been something he had learnt from his parents – both his foster and biological ones; his deceased parents had been nothing but abusive and negligent towards him, and while Xanxus and Squalo loved Bel dearly, they themselves were aggressive by nature.

"I don't care – I'm going to fucking –"

"-We can't do anything without consulting Mukuro-san," the brunet explained. "If he wants no one to find out, that's _his _choice and we can't force him. Just... Just let Mukuro-san decide what he wants to happen."

Bel sighed before he nodded. He was too tired with what had happened, and he just wanted to talk to Mukuro and sort things out.

Inside Mukuro's bedroom, the man sat on the edge of his bed with Fran on his lap. His arms were wrapped securely around the boy's waist, trying to explain things; he knew he had been cruel in letting Fran wonder what was happening, and he felt it was time for an explanation.

"Just because Belphegor is here, you can't go near him, okay?" The man explained in a gentle tone. "He's... not as good with kids as I thought he was..."

"But... why...?" Teal eyes looked up at Mukuro, a hint of sadness hidden behind stoics.

"Because Belphegor hurt you – what he did was _not _something to be done to kids of your age, little one... It... It's called 'rape'... The things he did to you are really bad for children... It makes them scared, and very sad... I just don't... want anything to happen to you – not if I can help it..."

"Master..." Fran reached up, wiping at the tears that started sliding down Mukuro's cheeks. He leant forward, placing a small kiss on the man's cheek. "Master, I... I liked the things we did... Bel-senpai tried not to hurt me, and he always made it feel really good..."

Mukuro shook his head. "That shouldn't matter – Belphegor should have known _better _than to do those things with you! I _trusted _him not to do it, and he went ahead and did it anyway!"

"But, Master... Bel-senpai is my friend, and I really miss him..." Fran sighed as he dropped his head against Mukuro's chest. "...I miss my family... I don't want to keep losing people... It hurts too much... Please, let me and Bel-senpai keep being friends..."

Mukuro knew Squalo and Xanxus had 'sorted it out' with Belphegor – which probably meant the two adults had kicked the shit out of their foster child – and while the man _did _know better, he at least had the guts to try and fix things. On top of that, the blond had just rescued him from his boss' hands – despite what had happened between them.

But Fran was only a boy, and he didn't know what was best for him... If Mukuro kept letting them see each other, it would only lead to more pain for them _all, _wouldn't it...?

But the boy was already _in _pain; he had lost his family, and must be unimaginably lonely after all this...

Pulling Fran close to him, Mukuro whispered, "...Only if I'm there to supervise... He won't be looking after you anymore, and if he _ever _touches you like that again, or says anything inappropriate to you, will you tell me straight away?"

Fran nodded. "Yes, Master... I just... I don't want to be by myself again... I want everyone to be happy again, because it makes _me _happy..."

"I know..." Mukuro helped Fran off his lap before he stood up. He took the tiny hand in his own, holding it tight as he led Fran from the room. "Let's go talk to Belphegor and make sure he knows the rules..."

Fran nodded, just glad that things seemed to be getting better.


	15. Chapter 15

Despite having talked it out with Mukuro and being granted a second chance, it still hurt to know that the younger male wasn't going to leave Fran alone with Belphegor any longer. A few weeks had passed by, and though Mukuro was slowly trusting Bel again, the blond wasn't sure if Mukuro would ever be one-hundred per cent with letting Fran near him again. Tsuna and Mukuro had eventually started dating, and though Fran didn't quite understand what the difference between friends and a boyfriend was, he could see how much happier Mukuro was.

Currently, Bel was lazing about on Mukuro's couch, keeping an eye on Fran as the boy did homework out in the living room. Tsuna and Mukuro were in the bedroom together, having promised they wouldn't be too long – Bel knew what they were up to, and he wondered who had been the horny one today.

"Yo, Froggy~" Bel sent his most charming grin to the boy as he tossed his phone onto the coffee table Fran was working at.

"Yes, senpai?" The boy looked up from his mathematics questions, his teal eyes curious.

"Froggy should grab me a drink~"

"Why can't you do it, senpai? I'm busy."

"I'll help you with your homework if you do it."

"I don't need any help, and if I _did _let you look at it, you'd give me all the wrong answers and make me as dumb as you are, senpai."

"Oi! I'll have you know I was _always _top of my classes, and I still _am!_" Bel got to his feet, crossing his arms against his chest in a stubborn manner. "Fine! I'll go get _myself _a drink! Maybe I'll bring out an extra glass to tip over you!"

"Well, you _do _think I'm a frog, and frogs like water." Fran shrugged, not bothered in the least. "Make it warm at least, please."

"Hmph!" Bel moved into the kitchen, a frown on his face. He grabbed a clean glass from the cupboard and poured himself some chocolate milk before he returned to the living room. Fran was still writing away, his tongue poking out of the corner of his lips as he concentrated. The blond reached out, pulling a sheet closer to him. "Equations? You're still learning this shit?"

"No, senpai; that's too easy for me, so they give me harder questions, like multiplication and division. My teacher said I'm too smart for my year level."

"So why don't you move up?" Bel suggested.

"Because I don't want to; I might get too ahead of myself and miss out on something I won't learn at a higher grade."

"Good point." Bel raised the glass to his lips as he leant back on the couch. He was relaxed, just happy to laze about.

Fran, however, seemed to be growing bored of his homework and instead moved to Bel's side. He climbed up onto the man's lap, hugging Bel tight.

Bel groaned and tried to push the other away, hoping that Mukuro wasn't about to walk into the room; he could only imagine what his friend would have to say about this. "Froggy... You'll get me into trouble..."

"Master should pull the stick from his ass," Fran mumbled as he made himself comfortable on the older male's lap. "Master is too protective. It's annoying sometimes."

Bel laughed, hugging Fran close. "I guess you have a point."

It was silent between them as the two embraced gently. Bel's hand gently caressed teal hair as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for a nap. Fran just curled in closer against him, still tired from a long week of school.

"Bel-senpai...?"

Bel blinked as he lifted his head, having jumped slightly at Fran's voice. "Yeah...?"

"Bel-senpai, I love you..."

Bel smiled softly as he raised his hand, patting the younger's back. "I know... When you get older, will you be my boyfriend if Mukuro lets you?"

"I still don't really understand what a boyfriend is, senpai," Fran admitted. "Master just tells me they love each other as more than a friend."

"They do~" Bel admitted. "When you're older you'll understand. So, think about it? Be my boyfriend? Because I love you a lot, Froggy~"

"I love you, too, senpai."

The two were quiet once again as Bel reached out for the TV remote. He flicked the set on and started changing through the channels, looking for something to entertain him. Fran was fast asleep on his lap, leaving Bel to his thoughts.

_I can't believe _Fran _is the one I've fallen for... _Bel caressed silky teal locks, his obscured eyes focused on the TV. _I've never... I've never _loved _before... I thought I was incapable of it... I've only ever lusted, but with Fran... It's different... I don't feel good without him anymore... I'm happiest when he's with me, and he's the only one I don't particularly want to kill... He makes me so calm and relaxed... _

_It's just a shame about our age gap, or maybe Mukuro would have let me date him... Damnit, Froggy, why'd you have to be so young...?_

Bel blinked as he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Mukuro's bedroom door opening. He grinned before he laughed to himself, wondering who was the top of their relationship – if this was ten years ago, Bel would have laughed at the idea of Tsuna taking Mukuro, but now that the brunet had grown up in a strong, confident and fairly tall adult – though still shorter than Mukuro - that idea didn't seem so ludicrous now.

"What are you doing, Belphegor...?"

Bel looked up with a huge smirk on his face, finding Mukuro standing in the doorway of the living room. He shrugged, pulling Fran closer to him. "I'm not hard or anything if that's what you're thinking."

Mukuro frowned for a few seconds before he nodded – Bel knew better than to assault Fran again, having been promised that if it happened once more, the outcome would be _far _more severe than it was previously.

"Did he get his homework done?" The blue-haired man asked as his lover came to his side. He wrapped his arm around Tsuna's waist as he waited for his friend's reply.

"I think so; I'm not sure if he did it all, though." Bel shrugged. "Shishi~ I have a question, though; who's the one getting fucked out of you two?"

Tsuna blushed and looked away while Mukuro just rolled his eyes, having expected such a question. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, because what if I want to have a threesome? I'll need to know how things work with you guys~"

"And who said we'd be _having _a threesome with _you _of all people?" Mukuro drawled.

"You let me join in when you were dating the skylark~ Shishi~" Bel held Fran close to him, his groin slowly hardening at the memories. "Surely the tuna-fish wouldn't mind?"

Mukuro sighed. He was about to reply back, but the doorbell ringing caught his attention. He pulled away from Tsuna as he went to answer the door, returning only a minute later with an out-of-uniform police officer by his side.

Bel tensed at the sight, having never been fond of police at all; as a teenager – _especially _in his delinquent stage – he had often been escorted to the police station where his foster parents had been called in about his behaviour. The resulting thrashings from Squalo and Xanxus were enough to make the blond despise all forms of authority, blaming them for his behaviour and consequent punishments.

Tsuna had moved to sit on the couch beside Bel, obviously confused as to why there was a cop here. Mukuro sat on the chair against the opposite wall, gesturing for the officer to take the other one.

"I've been following up on your report," the burly man said softly, his dark eyes shining with sympathy as he addressed Mukuro. "We arrested Daemon and took him in for questioning, and we also reviewed the tapes. Analysis was done on them, and we've sided with you for this part. During the statement, you explained he had paid for you the shifts you had missed, which had led to this – we've also investigated this and found that you _had _indeed been paid, which only makes his case weaker. We think we have enough evidence for this, so would you like to take this to court?"

Mukuro bit his lip before he looked to his friends, knowing he couldn't do this alone. He frowned as Tsuna nodded at him, almost too scared for people to know what he had done with his boss – he was terrified of being labelled as a whore, or something of the sort, but he also didn't want to endure the torture that was work any longer; Daemon was more persistent than ever, and almost always got his way with blackmailing Mukuro, saying he would show the footage to his friends if Mukuro didn't agree.

Bel sighed as he rested his chin on Fran's hair. "You should do it; it's not right what he's done."

Mukuro nodded, knowing Bel was right. Turning back to the officer, he said, "Please..."

While the two talked more about the case, Bel couldn't help but scowl; Fran didn't understand what his guardian was going through, and it confused him when Mukuro would come home from work early, looking as if he had been crying. He didn't know the reason Mukuro would be grumpy at times was because the man was stressed to the maximum, unable to sleep as nightmares of work plagued his mind. He didn't get why there were moments Mukuro would tense and pull away as the boy touched him, thinking it was _his_ fault he seemed to have made his guardian nervous.

Bel resented Daemon for what he was doing to his friends, and if it were up to him, he would have tortured the older male into oblivion by now – the only reason he hadn't was because he knew he couldn't let anything happen to Mukuro, and if staying by the younger's side was what he needed to do, he would do it.

_Froggy... _Bel squeezed the boy's hip as he frowned. _Froggy will get through this... So will the pineapple... I just wish I could help more..._


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm debating whether or not to make this the last chapter, or to do an epilogue next. It's up to you guys. **

Within in the following weeks, Bel had been overjoyed when his best friend had rang him, saying that he had won the court case and as a result, Daemon had been taken to jail. During this, the man had lost his business, and as Mukuro was the only employee working there, it had taken simply a bribe from Squalo and Xanxus for the store to be signed over to Mukuro. Without having Daemon there to harass him, Mukuro was once again greatly looking forward to going to work, especially now that he could do things as he saw fit.

As it was Sunday today, Mukuro had taken Fran to work with him. Tsuna had gone back to Japan, but had promised to come back down when he had time. Bel had been lazy and was finishing up an assignment before he came in to see the younger two, but Mukuro didn't mind; Fran was a good help when he needed it.

"What a cute little boy."

Fran looked up from his homework. He was seated at the register, a tall stool allowing him to use the extra space as a desk. He gave the woman regarding him a blank expression, having never understood why people always seemed to call him _cute_. Baby animals were cute. Hell, human _babies _were cute. But Fran wasn't a kitten, or a human baby – he wasn't _cute_.

"Thank you." Mukuro smiled as he bagged the woman's purchases.

Fran put his pen down on the register as he turned to look at Mukuro. He watched as the two adults conversed before he yawned and slid off the stool. He wrapped his arms around his guardian's waist before he looked up to the woman again, his teal eyes blinking curiously.

"Master, I'm hungry..."

Mukuro patted the younger's head as he waited for his customer to finish counting out her coins. "Belphegor will be here soon with lunch, little one. Patience."

"You're so sweet to him." The lady smiled as she handed over the money. "He seems to be quiet fond of you. Is he biological?"

"No; he's adopted."

"Wonderful."

It took only a few seconds more before Mukuro was done with the customer, and then he picked Fran up into his arms. "Belphegor should be here any moment."

Just as the man finished speaking, the bell chimed as the door was opened. It wasn't just Bel who entered; Dino followed him in, a very familiar animal sitting on his gloved arm.

"Mukurowl...?"

"Tsuna was looking in to it and found him." Dino smiled as the owl hooted before flapping his wings and flying to Mukuro, the tether on his scaly leg extending. "He asked me to go and get him back for you."

"Thank you so much." Mukuro smiled as his pet jumped onto his shoulder, just glad to have his best friend back. He truly regretted selling Mukurowl, but now that his mind was clear, he knew never to do it again, no matter _what_. "Would you like to stay for lunch with us, Dino?"

"No, I'd better get back; Kyouya said he's got something on soon." Dino reached out, patting his friend's head. "Let me know how things are going."

"Thank you, Dino. Please send my regards to Kyouya." Mukuro ran his index finger over his pet's back, smiling brighter than he had in a while. "I'll talk to you again soon."

Bel was silent, his hands stuffed in the jacket of his work uniform as he waited for Dino to leave. He had dropped a plastic bag by his side, a few containers of spaghetti waiting for their consumption.

"You're quiet today, Belphegor." Mukuro moved back to the register. He tied the tether to one of the shelves lining the wall behind the space, shortening it so that Mukurowl couldn't attack any customers he decided he didn't like. "Is something the matter?"

Bel shrugged. He never removed his hands from his pocket as he followed his friend back to the register, letting Fran deal with their food. "M'fine..."

"Bel-senpai, why are you sad?" Fran handed the bag to his guardian before he wrapped his arms around Bel's middle. "Are you okay?"

The blond picked the boy up, hugging him tight. "Yeah..."

Mukuro frowned, but he didn't speak; he instead grabbed two spare stools from the backroom, bringing them out to the register. He helped his friend sit down before he started sorting the food out, wondering just what was bothering the older male.

"It's Mink's birthday today..." Bel finally uttered. A single tear rolled down his cheek, and he hastily wiped it away.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Mukuro wrapped an arm around the smaller male's shoulders, pulling his friend against him. "I didn't... I'm sorry..."

"Don't leave me again..." Bel whispered before he buried his face against teal hair. "I don't want to be alone..."

"You aren't," the blue-haired male promised. "You have me and Fran, and Squalo and Xanxus."

"I miss Mink..." Bel admitted. Not a day went by he didn't think about his pet; he blamed himself, knowing he shouldn't have taken Mink outside without a harness. "I miss him..."

"I'm sure you do..." Mukuro stuck a plastic fork into one of the containers, handing it to the older male. "Eat up; it'll make you feel better."

The blond nodded. He ate slowly, but Mukuro didn't mind.

Fran was the first to finish his lunch, and once he had thrown the container into the bin, he climbed onto Bel's lap, knowing the man was feeling lonely, much like how _he _missed his family.

"I love you, Bel-senpai..." Fran smiled up at Bel, his eyes shining with happiness. "Please don't be sad, because it makes _us _sad; I know this because I still miss my family, but it's okay because I'm not alone; I have Master now."

Bel knew the boy was right. Pushing away his food, he returned the hug, holding Fran tight. He really loved this boy, and he could only hope that when Fran was older, Mukuro would let them be together.


	17. Chapter 17

"Psst... Froggy! Is Froggy awake?"

"..."

"Froggy! Wake up!"

"..."

"Damnit, Froggy, wake up!"

Teal eyes cracked open as Fran slowly rolled onto his side, finding Bel sitting on the edge of his bed. He glanced at the clock that sat on the bedside table, finding four-o-seven illuminating the room. "What...?"

"I'm horny." Bel sniffed as he shrugged, reaching out to pat teal hair.

"Well, I'm not; I'm tired." Fran pushed at the hands that were trying to pull his pyjama shirt from his body. "What are you even doing in my room...?"

"Stupid pineapple and the tuna-fish are going at it again, and they won't let me join in."

"Stop touching me, senpai; Master said no sex at his house." Fran rolled his eyes, feeling too tired to deal with this.

"But you're my _boyfriend _now, Froggy! We can do whatever we want! C'mon...!"

"Master's rules."

"You're seventeen! I brought people back to Squ-Squ's house when I was _younger _than you!"

Fran sighed. He let his eyes open again as he turned to look at Senpai, finding the frustration in the man's face. He raised a hand, using it to caress a soft cheek.

"Senpai is always horny." The teenager let his hand slide down Bel's neck, his chest, and eventually resting on the hem of his striped pyjama pants. "I don't like my sleep being interrupted though; I have school in the morning."

Bel grinned as he leant forward, pressing his lips against Fran's. He pulled away, whispering, "I'll be gentle if that's the case."

Fran shrugged. He dipped his hand into Bel's pants, taking hold of the large erection. He stroked it carefully, still getting the hang of this; having had his innocence taken from him at such a young age, Fran had a few sexual difficulties, and one of them was that he wasn't often aroused, especially if he were just by himself – he rarely ever masturbated, so the only experience he had with his hands came from jerking Bel off.

"Mm..." Bel moved closer, letting Fran work against him. "That's it, Froggy... Yeah, just like that..."

Fran pulled away, earning a moan of annoyance from Bel. He instead rolled onto his stomach, lowering his mouth around the erection.

"Mm..." Bel moaned softly as he felt a hot tongue lick at his head. "You're good at this, Froggy..."

Fran hummed, sending vibrations down the man's spine. He lowered one hand, using it to fondle the large sacs beneath his mouth.

"Shit..." The blond caressed Fran's cheek, encouraging him to take him deeper. "That's right..."

Fran buried his nose in against blond pubic hair as he worked his lover eagerly. He could feel that Bel was close, so he hummed again.

"F-fran...!" Bel let out a strangled moan as he exploded down the boy's throat. He panted heavily as he patted the younger's head, taking a moment to compose himself. "F-fuck..."

"Was that good, Bel-senpai?" Fran licked at the semen that was dribbling past his lips, a faint, only-just visible smile on his face.

"Yeah..." Bel moved to lean over the much smaller boy, grabbing pale wrists in his hands. He held them above Fran's head, grinning down at his boyfriend. "Can I do it?"

"Senpai, I'm really not in the mood." Fran yawned, emphasising his point. "I'll come over after school and we can do it then."

Bel giggled as he nodded, liking the arrangement. He clambered off the teenager, moving instead to lie beside him. He pulled the frail body in against his, kissing and sucking at an exposed neck.

"Master's going to be mad at senpai for not staying on the couch tonight." Fran rolled around so that he could bury his face in against a warm throat. "Senpai knows Master doesn't like it when you come into my room at night."

"He'll get over it. Now sleep, if Froggy is really that tired."

"I'm gonna tell Master you broke the rules..." Fran let his eyes slip closed as he muttered tiredly. "He's gonna skin you alive..."

"Yeah, yeah."

It took mere seconds for Fran to fall back asleep, but Bel lay awake, just caressing the warm skin. He loved this boy more than anything else in his life, and now that he could finally be with the younger in the way he had wanted for all this time, Bel was overjoyed.

Leaning down to kiss Fran's forehead, Bel whispered, "I love you, Froggy...", before he, too, closed his eyes, greatly looking forward to Fran's after-school visit.


End file.
